Stunting (broadcasting)

Summary

Stunting is a type of publicity stunt in radio broadcasting, where a station—abruptly and often without advance announcement—begins to air content that is seemingly uncharacteristic compared to what is normally played.

Stunting is typically used to generate publicity and audience attention for upcoming changes to a station's programming, such as new branding, format, or as a soft launch for a newly-established station. Occasionally, a stunt may be purely intended as publicity or a protest, and not actually result in a major programming change. Stunts often involve a loop of a single song, or an interim format (such as the discography of a specific artist, Christmas music, a specific theme, or novelty songs), which may sometimes include hints towards the station's new format or branding.

To a lesser extent, stunting has also been seen on television, most commonly in conjunction with April Fools' Day, or to emphasize a major programming event being held by a channel.

Types of radio stunting and noted examples edit

Continuous loop edit

A station may stunt by repeating the same song, playlist, or other content on a continuous loop:[1]

Temporary formats edit

Occasionally a station dropping an old format will stunt with a transitional format, either containing hints towards the new format (such as songs referencing its new branding, and artists who may be included in the eventual format), or having little to do with it. This can include songs based on specific themes (such as a single musician), or novelties that would not be viable as a permanent format. In some cases (sometimes referred to as a "wheel of formats"), a station may cycle between multiple formats during the stunt until the new, permanent format launches.[25][26]

  • As part of its 1996 transition from country music to rhythmic contemporary WKTU,[27] New York City's WYNY carried simulcasts of programming from several of its Evergreen Media sister stations, including WRCX/Chicago (with morning host Mancow Muller informing his expanded audience that there would be "no more goat-ropin' music" on WYNY, and making jokes directed towards competitors WHTZ and WXRK—including pulling a prank on the latter's morning host Howard Stern), KKBT/Los Angeles, WLUP/Chicago, KIOI/San Francisco, and WXKS/Boston.[28][29]
  • In 2006, after its sale to new owners, KFYE in Kingsburg, California, dropped its contemporary Christian music programming for a stunt format it dubbed "Porn Radio", featuring songs with sexually-suggestive lyrics, and songs edited to include moaning sounds. The stunt led into its relaunch as rhythmic adult contemporary Sexy 106.3.[30][31][32] The station subsequently held a second publicity stunt in March 2007 that falsely implied an end to the format on March 30. A playing of "Say Goodbye" by Chris Brown preceded the ensuing announcement, a change in call letters to KSXE to match the Sexy moniker.[33]
    • WLYK in Cape Vincent, New York (serving Kingston, Ontario) pulled a similar stunt when it transitioned to new operators in February 2023, replacing its outgoing Kiss CHR format with "The Pole" (a pun of the name of one of the station's new owners, Jon Pole)—a variety format which played music that one would hear at a strip club.[34] The stunt notably attracted the attention of an actual strip club in Kingston.[35] The station emerged as adult hits Lake FM on March 17, 2023.[36]
  • In May 2009, WSKS in Utica, New York, announced that due to "financial constraints", its contemporary hit radio (CHR) format would be replaced by a beautiful music format similar to what was broadcast on sister station WUTQ. The ensuing programming included staged scenes of station employees protesting the changes. The "new format," however, lasted for only two hours before WSKS management came clean, restored the CHR format, and confirmed the stunt was a way to promote the station's new lineup.[37]
  • As a publicity stunt for the program by local broadcaster Global, Toronto radio station CIRR-FM (which usually broadcasts a CHR format targeting the LGBT community) temporarily rebranded as Glee FM on April 12, 2010, adding music from the U.S. musical comedy-drama series Glee to its playlist.[38] On August 16, 2010, British radio station Oxford's FM 107.9 held its own Glee FM stunt, leading into its August 18 relaunch as Glide FM.[39]
  • Over Memorial Day weekend in 2010, WJZX-FM/Milwaukee, Wisconsin, stunted as Tiger 106.9, featuring songs about cheating (in reference to an infidelity scandal involving golfer Tiger Woods). The station was expected to change to a top 40 format with the new call letters WNQW—with the new calls suggesting that its branding would involve the name "Now". However, competing station WQBW abruptly moved to introduce the same format and branding as 97.3 Now, preventing WJZX from using the name.[40] The station continued airing temporary formats (such as patriotic music and The Beatles' discography in alphabetical order), before settling on a permanent format in June 2010, as classic country station WZBK-FM (the station eventually adopted a rhythmic top 40 format in September 2012 as Energy 106.9).[41][42]
  • In 2011, WWWN/Chicago and WEMP/New York—which had recently been sold to Merlin Media—transitioned from alternative rock to all-news radio as FM News. As a transitional format, both stations aired a format branded as FM New, which featured adult contemporary music interspersed with news, traffic, and weather updates from personalities who would serve under the new FM News formats.[43]
  • Some stations have held temporary stunts focused on specific artists in honor of major concert tours making stops in their markets, with KSON in San Diego briefly rebranding as The All-New George-FM in January 2014 ahead of the January 31 date on George Strait's farewell tour The Cowboy Rides Away (promoting an increased amount of George Strait music, and on-air giveaways of merchandise and concert tickets), and San Francisco's KBAY announcing that it would temporarily rebrand as Tay Bay and play all-Taylor Swift music on July 28 and 29, 2023, in honor of The Eras Tour.[44][45][46]
  • On October 8, 2014, KROI/Houston ended its all-news format and began stunting as B92, playing only music by Houston-native Beyoncé. The stunt led into its relaunch as classic hip-hop Boom 92.[47]
  • KEGY/San Diego used an unbranded mainstream rock format as part of its transition from CHR to a new hot talk-oriented format in 2018. The stunt's playlist featured Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" at the top of each hour, which teased its eventual branding as The Machine.[48][49]
  • Multiple stations in the United States and Canada have stunted with Chinese music under the branding "Kung Pao", such as KDOG (which led into a flip to classic hits), WVHT (which led into its re-launch as CHR Hot 100),[50][51] and CIGM (which led into its re-launch as CHR Hot 93.5).[52]
  • In connection with former president Donald Trump's presidency and both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections in the United States, multiple radio stations have stunted with songs directly related to both his presidency and campaigns under either both Donald and Trump brandings, such as WVWF (when it briefly stunted as Trump 105.1 and played songs that aimed directly to his campaign such as Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall"—in referenced to his border wall—in September 2016),[53] and Hartford's WDRC's simulcast translator W277DT (which launched under the name Trump 103.3 in May 2019).[54]
  • In July 2021, Denver CHR station KPTT briefly aired all-Britney Spears music as Free Britney Radio (in reference to the Britney Spears conservatorship dispute) before re-launching its format as Hits 95.7.[55]

Christmas music edit

The popular practice of radio stations playing all-Christmas music during the lead-up to (and occasionally the week after) Christmas Day has sometimes been used by stations as a transition period between formats.[56][57] However, the ensuing format change can still occur before the end of the holiday season. Christmas music is sometimes used as a more blatant stunt format outside of the holiday season (in a similar spirit to ironic "Christmas in July" promotions).[56][57]

  • On November 17, 2017, Seattle country station KMPS flipped to Christmas music in defense of its former competitor and now-sister station, KKWF, following the merger of CBS Radio with KKWF's owner Entercom. While ostensibly for the holiday season, KMPS abruptly ended the all-Christmas programming on December 4, 2017, and flipped to soft adult contemporary.[58][59] The following year, Entercom's Detroit station WDZH performed a similar flip from an outgoing CHR format to soft AC, with its transition period having lasted only three days.[60]
  • Saskatoon's CFWD-FM soft launched with Christmas music in April 2008 prior to its official launch as CHR Wired 96.3 (a more traditional holiday music stunt was used as part of its flip to adult hits in December 2012).[56][61][62][63]
    • In April 2011, its Edmonton sister-station CKEA-FM used a weekend of Christmas music to soft launch its new adult contemporary format Lite 95.7, promoting the new station's intent to play all-Christmas music during the holiday season.[64]
  • Duluth's WEBC used Christmas music as a transitional format in September 2015 when flipping from sports talk to classic rock, with the station initially implying that the Christmas format was permanent.[65][66][67]
  • Richmond's WURV aired 12 hours of "inappropriately early" Christmas music on October 7, 2015, as a satire of Christmas creep and stations trying to be the first in their market to play Christmas music.[68][69]
    • WURV's sister station WJSR would notably conduct an unusually-long Christmas music stunt lasting from October 13, 2020 to March 4, 2021; the station had originally stunted with snippets of songs as "Short Attention Span Radio" from October 1.[70][71] After just over five months of stunting in total, WJSR flipped to classic hits Awesome 100.9 on March 4, 2021.[72]
  • In October 2018, KBFF in Portland, Oregon briefly stunted with a Halloween-themed format as eviL 95.5 (an inversion of its typical branding Live 95.5), as a parody of all-Christmas formats.[73]

Other edit

  • On January 7, 2019, country station KSED/Sedona began stunting with a speaking clock counting down to 6:00 a.m. on January 14, 2019. The stunt—which led into a rebranding with no change in format—prompted the Flagstaff Police Department to issue a statement clarifying that, despite concerns from residents, this was a promotional event with no harm intended.[74][75]
  • In 2018 and 2020, iHeartMedia used multiple stunts as part of its repositioning and relaunch of CHR station KBKS-FM in Seattle.
    • In late-October 2018 approaching Halloween, the station dropped its on-air personalities, and began to air promos and sweepers implicating the end of its existing Kiss format. Later, the station began to interrupt songs with a demonic voiceover stating that "Kiss is dead", and air promos teasing an announcement on October 31. At that time, the station announced that it would revamp its on-air lineup with no change in format, explaining the prior stunt by stating that they were "dead serious" about finding "Seattle's Funniest Person" to join its morning show (as part of an accompanying contest).[76][77][78]
    • In July 2020, KBKS announced that it had hired Jubal Fresh—the former co-host of KQMV's nationally-syndicated morning show Brooke & Jubal—to host a new morning show on the station.[79] On August 3, 2020, the station temporarily rebranded as Jubal 106.1 to promote the impending launch of The Jubal Show,[80] after which it adopted its new branding—Hits 106.1—on August 20 to coincide with its premiere.[81]
  • From March 27 to late-May 2020, CHR station WFLC/Miami, Hits 97.3, branded as Quarantine Radio in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic and Florida's stay-at-home order. The station maintained its existing format, but added commercial-free hours of dance music mixes ("Fit Mixes") at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. In late-May, the Quarantine Radio branding was dropped and the station promoted itself as being "under construction", before re-launching the Hits format on June 3 with a new on-air lineup.[82][83]

On television edit

Cartoon Network has broadcast its share of stunts over the years, many on April Fools' Day. On April 1, 1997, the network aired a stunt where it had purportedly been taken over by Screwy Squirrel, and subsequently broadcast the Screwy Squirrel cartoon "Happy-Go-Nutty" for 12 hours straight.[84] Numerous complaints were received about this particular event, generally fielded by Cartoon Network's cable providers, who had been left in the dark about the stunt.[84] Later April Fools' Day stunts on Cartoon Network have included an 11 hour Cow and Chicken marathon in place of a scheduled Chowder marathon on April 1, 2009, and 14 hours of programming edited to have googly eyes on April 1, 2017.[85]

Cartoon Network's late-night block Adult Swim has held a number of their own April Fools' programming stunts, such as promoting a television premiere of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters before its theatrical release (but displaying it in a comically-small window over regularly-scheduled programming), airings of the cult Tommy Wiseau film The Room, episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Rick and Morty redubbed by children and edited to be family-friendly ("Adult Swim Junior"),[86][87] a one-off revival of Cartoon Network's former action and anime block Toonami (which later relaunched under the auspices of Adult Swim), and an airing of Toonami with programs in their original Japanese audio with subtitles (including Masaaki Yuasa's 2004 experimental film Mind Game) rather than an English dub.[88] The stunts have sometimes included unannounced previews and premieres of new and existing series, such as additional episodes of Perfect Hair Forever after its supposed series finale, the third season premiere of Rick and Morty, and an unannounced world premiere of the first episode of FLCL's third season before its second season had even premiered in the U.S. yet.[89][86][90][91]

For 35 days in early-1998, Birmingham, Alabama's CBS affiliate WBMG—which had recently been acquired by Media General—stunted during some of the timeslots of its local newscasts with a clock counting down to a major relaunch of the station (and its fledgling news department) on February 5.[92][93][94]

Nick Jr. Too, a sister to the British Nick Jr. channel, has occasionally aired long-term marathons of Peppa Pig, during which it has branded as "Nick Jr. Peppa".[95] In a similar manner, Sky Sports has also temporarily rebranded some of its channels to devote them specifically to certain major events, such as The Ashes series in cricket (Sky Sports Ashes),[96] the PDC World Darts Championship (Sky Sports Darts; in 2015, this used the Sky Sports F1 channel, since Formula One was in its off-season),[97][98] and golf's Open Championship (Sky Sports The Open).[99] In January 2019, Sky Sports Action was temporarily renamed "Sky Sports USA", with programming focusing on the National Basketball Association (coinciding with the playing of the NBA Global Games series in London), and the National Football League playoffs and Super Bowl LIII.[100][101]

At least three networks have used stunting-type events prior to their formal launches: G4, for example, aired a 7 day long game of Pong before its formal debut on April 24, 2002.[102] This stunt would later be referenced by the network's sign-off December 31, 2014, as well as in the video announcing its 2021 return.[103][104] MLB Network aired a continuous loop of baseball highlights and promos as a "soft launch" in the weeks before its formal debut on January 1, 2009. Canada's Sun News Network employed an on-screen countdown clock graphic in the hours before its April 18, 2011, launch.[105]

Since 2017, one of ESPN's networks has stunted as "ESPN8: The Ocho" on or near August 8 (8/8), carrying a marathon of programming featuring sporting events and competitions that are either obscure or unconventional, such as chess boxing, disc golf, dodgeball, esports, Highland games, kabaddi, lawn mower racing, mini-golf, and roller derby. The stunt pays tribute to a fictitious ESPN channel of the same name portrayed in the 2004 sports comedy film DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (nicknamed "The Ocho", in reference to ESPN2 being nicknamed "The Deuce" on launch), which carries coverage of competitions that are "almost a sport". The stunt was originally held on ESPNU—a channel that normally carries college sports events during the academic year, but moved to ESPN2 beginning in 2018. The film itself has sometimes been screened as part of this lineup as well.[106][107][108][109][110]

References edit

  1. ^ "Radio Stunting: Music Stations Repeat One Song All Day, from Performers Such as Led Zeppelin, R.E.M., Kid Rock and More". Music Times. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Why Is a Radio Station Playing 'Hot in Herre' on an Endless Loop?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Bay Area Latino radio station 105.7 won't stop playing Nelly's 'Hot in Herre'". SFGate Blog. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  4. ^ "How #Nelly1057 Became A Viral Sensation". RadioInsight. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  5. ^ Lindeman, Tracey (29 June 2022). "Mystery as Canadian radio station plays Rage Against the Machine song nonstop". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  6. ^ Mier, Tomás (29 June 2022). "After DJ Layoffs, a Radio Station Has Been Playing Rage Against the Machine Over and Over and Over". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  7. ^ Chan, Cheryl (29 June 2022). "Vancouver's KiSS FM has been playing Rage Against the Machine on repeat. Why?". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  8. ^ Thiessen, Connie (30 June 2022). "Rogers expands SONiC RADiO to Vancouver and the Fraser Valley". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  9. ^ Ross, Sean (5 July 2022). "The Greatest Radio Stunt Ever". RadioInsight. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  10. ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 26 February 1955. p. 44. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  11. ^ Tognazzini, Bruce. "The Bizarre Demise of Mighty 690". AskTog.com.
  12. ^ "You can relax: Louie is gone". The Post-Crescent. 3 May 1994. p. 11. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Indie88, Toronto's newest radio station, puts the listener in charge". National Post. 31 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  14. ^ Venta, Lance (8 October 2020). "KFOW ties its train down, sport". Radio Insight. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  15. ^ "KOKE-FM Returning To Austin". RadioInsight. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  16. ^ Vincent, Peter (28 April 2014). "Double J pays homage to past with Express Yourself stunt". The Age. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  17. ^ Casimir, Paul Chamberlin and Jon (2 September 2015). "Express yourself: The day Triple J played the same N.W.A. song 82 times in a row". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  18. ^ "Here's one for the books". Johns Hopkins Gazette. 24 (38). 26 June 1995.
  19. ^ "Calgary Radio Station X92.9 Plays 'It's The End Of The World' By R.E.M. All Day To Mark Mayan Calendar". Huffington Post. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  20. ^ "Philly's 'Gambler' Declares Itself The 'Future Of Sports Talk Radio.'". Insideradio.com. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  21. ^ "iHeartMedia Launches Black Information Network". RadioInsight. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  22. ^ "Several iHeartMedia Stations Stunting With Speeches, New Format To Be Announced Tomorrow". All Access. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  23. ^ "iHeartMedia Debuts All-News BIN: Black Information Network". All Access. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  24. ^ "We 100.1 Debuts In Reno". RadioInsight. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  25. ^ "Wheel of Formats Kills Off Jack-FM San Diego". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  26. ^ "Goodbye Bieber, hello AC/DC!". San Diego Reader. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  27. ^ Novia, Tony (16 February 1996). "It's Dance For WKTU (Again)" (PDF). R&R. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  28. ^ "More NY -L.A. Stories" (PDF). R&R. 9 February 1996. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  29. ^ "Jacor Climbs On The Buying Bandwagon; Mancow Takes WYNY Into Format Limbo". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 17 February 1996. p. 96. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  30. ^ "Christian music station switches to 'all-sex' content". Houston Chronicle. Associated Press. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  31. ^ "Pro Active Goes Porn Radio On KFYE". All Access. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  32. ^ "Some Sexy Fresno Fun". All Access. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  33. ^ "Some Sexy Fresno Fun". All Access. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  34. ^ Venta, Lance (28 February 2023). "WLYK Hits A Pole". RadioInsight. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  35. ^ "There's a New Stripper Radio Station in Kingston, ON". Exclaim!. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  36. ^ "WLYK Targets Kingston As "Lake-FM"". RadioInsight. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  37. ^ Dellecese, Dave (18 May 2009). "Just a publicity stunt - KISS FM remains on air despite weekend claims". WKTV. Archived from the original on 21 May 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  38. ^ Schneider, Michael (13 April 2010). ""Glee" comes to radio, via "Glee FM"". Variety. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  39. ^ "Glee FM becomes Glide FM". RadioToday. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  40. ^ "Smooth jazz, Brew and Radio Now recap". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  41. ^ "Saga Gives Milwaukee An Energy Boost". RadioInsight. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  42. ^ Dudek, Duane (2 June 2010). "Ratings games spur radio identity crisis". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  43. ^ "WEMP/New York Wakes Up With News Friday". All Access Music Group. 12 August 2011.
  44. ^ "KBAY To Go All Taylor Swift This Weekend". RadioInsight. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  45. ^ "KSON Is Now 'George-FM'". All Access. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  46. ^ "KBAY/KKDV (Bay Country 94.5/92.1)/San Jose To Transform Into 'Tay Bay' For Taylor Swift Shows". All Access. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  47. ^ Shetty, Sharan (9 October 2014). "The Houston Radio Station Playing Only Beyoncé Isn't Quite As Crazy As It Sounds". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  48. ^ "97.3 The Machine San Diego Debuts". RadioInsight. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  49. ^ "KEGY (Energy 97.3)/San Diego Turns Off The Top 40, Rocks Out In Prep For New Format". All Access. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  50. ^ "KDOG Becomes Kung Pao 96.7, Plays The (Chinese) Classic Hits". All Access. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  51. ^ "Believe It Or Not ... 'Kung Pao 100.5 FM' Was A Stunt". All Access. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  52. ^ "Sudbury, Ontario station CIGM stunted to Kung Pao". All Access. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  53. ^ "WVWF stunted as "Trump 105.1"". RadioInsight. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  54. ^ "WDRC's new translator W277DT launches with "Trump" branding". RadioInsight. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  55. ^ "Hits 95.7 Debuts In Denver". RadioInsight. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  56. ^ a b c "Radio station takes down the tree". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  57. ^ a b "'Tis the Season for Format Flips". Insideradio.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  58. ^ "KMPS Christmas Flip Fuels Talk Of Post-Holiday Changes". Insideradio.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  59. ^ "Seattle radio's king of country goes soft rock". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  60. ^ "98.7 swaps pop hits for soft contemporary as The Breeze". Crain's Detroit Business. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  61. ^ "New station jingles all the way". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Postmedia. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  62. ^ "96.3 Cruzes in Saskatoon". Radio Insight. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  63. ^ "Saskatoon radio station lays off staff". CBC News. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  64. ^ "95.7 The Sound Edmonton Gets Lite - RadioInsight". 25 March 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  65. ^ "All-Christmas radio moves to classic rock". Duluth News-Tribune. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  66. ^ "Duluth radio station switches from sports to Christmas music..." Duluth News-Tribune. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  67. ^ "Duluth Radio Station Claims Permanent Switch To Year-Round Christmas Music". CBS Minnesota. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  68. ^ "WURV (103.7 Play)/Richmond Is (Not) Our First Christmas Station". All Access. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  69. ^ "WURV Comes Clean Over Christmas Stunt". RadioInsight. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  70. ^ "On The 125th Day Of Christmas Music, Why Is WJSR Still In Holiday Mode?". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  71. ^ "WJSR Goes All-Christmas As Santa 100.9". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  72. ^ "SummitMedia Makes Double Flip In Richmond". RadioInsight. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  73. ^ "Live 95.5 Portland To Get Evil With Halloween Music". RadioInsight. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  74. ^ "KOLT Country 107.5 Flagstaff Revamps As The New KOLT". RadioInsight. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  75. ^ "'What is going on with 107.5 in Flagstaff?': Radio station's eerie marketing campaign stirs confusion". azcentral. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  76. ^ "106.1 Kiss-FM Seattle Relaunches Dead Serious About Finding New Morning Host". RadioInsight. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  77. ^ "KBKS (106.1 Kiss FM)/Seattle Jockless And Stunting". All Access. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  78. ^ "KBKS/Seattle Goes Under Construction, Calls Out For New On-Air Talent". All Access. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  79. ^ "Jubal Lands in Seattle". Radio Ink. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  80. ^ "KBKS Drop Kiss-FM Branding; Stunting As Jubal 106.1 In Preparation Of Morning Show Launch". RadioInsight. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  81. ^ "KBKS Becomes Hits 106.1 As Jubal Show Launches". RadioInsight. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  82. ^ "Hits 97.3 Miami Completes Station Rebuild". RadioInsight. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  83. ^ "WFLC Temporarily Becomes 97.3 Quarantine Radio". RadioInsight. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  84. ^ a b Bennett, Sara J. (2 April 1997). "April Fool! TV viewers go nutty". The Springfield News-Leader. p. 1. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  85. ^ @cartoonnetwork (1 April 2017). "Happy #AprilFools" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2023 – via Twitter.
  86. ^ a b Cobb, Kayla (April 18, 2017). "10 of The Craziest And Most Controversial Things Adult Swim Has Done". Decider. New York Post. Archived from the original on July 18, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  87. ^ Lynch, Jason. "Adult Swim Jr. Debuts in April Fools' Faux Rebrand". Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  88. ^ "Internet Reacts To Toonami's April Fool's Day Anime Stunt". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  89. ^ Osborn, Alex (31 March 2018). "FLCL: Alternative Stealth Debuted on Toonami for April Fool's Day". IGN. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  90. ^ Matar, Joe. "Rick and Morty Season 3 Episode 1 Review: The Rickshank Rickdemption". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  91. ^ "Rick and Morty Season 4 Premiere Date Revealed During Samurai Anime Short". comicbook.com/. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  92. ^ Malone, Michael (1 October 2012). "High-Flying Gannett Exec Lands on His Feet". Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  93. ^ "Birmingham TV station replaces news shows with a countdown clock". The Anniston Star. 1 January 1998. p. 12. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  94. ^ Lafayette, Jon (9 February 1998). "Alabama CBS affiliate tries spartan newscast". Electronic Media. p. 49.
  95. ^ Wallop, Harry (8 October 2013). "Dad of four: a family united by Peppa Pig". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  96. ^ "The Ashes 2013: Sky Sports dedicates channel to the Ashes". Sky Sports. 13 June 2013.
  97. ^ "Sky Sports Darts returns for PDC World Championship". Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  98. ^ Briel, Robert (15 November 2014). "Sky Sports launches darts channel". Broadband TV News. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  99. ^ "Sky dedicates channel to The Open, does U-turn on channel numbers". Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  100. ^ "Sky launching dedicated American sports channel". Digital TV Europe. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  101. ^ Mann, Colin (20 December 2018). "Sky Sports USA pop-up channel". advanced-television.com. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  102. ^ Bloom, David (24 April 2002). "Game channel G4 bows with 7 days of Pong". Variety. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  103. ^ "G4TV Goes Off The Air (12-31-14)". YouTube. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  104. ^ @G4TV (24 July 2020). "We never stopped playing" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  105. ^ Ladurantaye, Steve (18 April 2011). "Sun News Network launches with anchor as Sunshine Girl". The Globe and Mail.
  106. ^ "ESPN is creating ESPN8: 'The Ocho' for one glorious day". SB Nation. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  107. ^ Rosenthal, Phil. "'ESPN8: The Ocho' to replace ESPNU — if only for a day". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  108. ^ Steinberg, Brian (8 August 2018). "Bold strategy, Cotton: Inside ESPN's crazy plans to turn 'The Ocho' into a business". Variety. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  109. ^ Morona, Joey (6 August 2019). "ESPN8: The Ocho returns with pizza dough throwing, sign spinning, lawn mower races and more weird sports". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  110. ^ Daniels, Tim. "ESPN8 The Ocho: Top Highlights, Funny Reaction, Schedule for Wednesday's Events". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 15 August 2019.