Continuous loop A station may stunt by repeating the same song, playlist, or other content on a continuous loop: • The song(s) in question are commonly a clue towards the incoming format or branding, such as was the case in March 2014 when San Francisco
Regional Mexican station
KVVF/
KVVZ stunted with a loop of "
Hot in Herre" by
Nelly for three days. This led into the stations' relaunch as
rhythmic contemporary Hot 105.7. The stunt notably attracted mainstream media attention, with the
hashtag "#nelly1057" being used to discuss the event on
Twitter. • In late-June 2022,
CKKS-FM in
Greater Vancouver similarly faced mainstream media attention when it played a loop of "
Killing in the Name" by
Rage Against the Machine as part of its transition from
hot adult contemporary Kiss to
modern rock Sonic. The loop included
kayfabe segments of DJs discussing their repeated playing of the song, and "callers" either requesting "Killing in the Name", or being denied a request for a different song—which led to a false impression that its employees had commandeered the station to protest staffing changes associated with the format change. • Often the song chosen for the loop does not pertain to either the old or new format: • In one of the oldest radio stunts recorded,
WNOE-AM/
New Orleans played "Shtiggy Boom" by The Nuggets nonstop for 58 hours and 45 minutes before the launch of its Top 40 format in early 1955. • In 1961,
XEAK San Diego/
Tijuana played "Mope-itty Mope" by
The Bosstones for 72 hours straight before launching one of the first
all-news formats in North American radio. • In 1962,
WPOP Hartford disc jockey
Joey Reynolds famously locked himself into a studio and played a then-unknown record named "
Sherry" on repeat for several hours, a stunt that launched the career of the band that recorded it,
The Four Seasons. •
Bob Fass was known for repeatedly looping songs throughout his overnight show
Radio Unnameable, most famously with
Arlo Guthrie's "
Alice's Restaurant" in the late 1960s. Fass's use of such stunts was a perverse form of
pledge drive, often threatening to keep playing the songs over and over again until flagship station
WBAI received a certain threshold of donations. • Several stations, including
WMGV/
Winneconne and
WXMP/
Peoria, have stunted with various versions of "
Louie Louie" by
Richard Berry. In 1983, as part of an escalating rivalry involving the song between DJs at
Foothill College's
KFJC and
UC Berkeley's
KALX, KFJC conducted a 63 hour stunt event in which it aired approximately 800 different versions of "Louie Louie". • In July 2013, the new Toronto radio station
CIND-FM stunted with a loop of "
Never Gonna Give You Up" by
Rick Astley in a reference to the
Rickroll meme, prior to its official launch as
adult album alternative Indie 88. •
Linder Radio Group is known for routinely using "
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" by
Rolf Harris as a filler stunt when changing a format on one of its stations. • For four days before the July 8, 2012, relaunch of
KOKE-FM/
Austin — a station which popularized
progressive country in the early 1970s, a live recording of
Dale Watson's "Country My Ass" played in a continuous loop. This example of stunting is notable for the station-specific nature of the song's lyrics; Watson re-recorded the song for the occasion, adding a new coda in which he sings, "Now Austin's on track, 'cause KOKE-FM's back." • In May 1990, the staff of
Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio station
Triple J staged an
industrial action, after its news director was suspended for playing a clip of the
N.W.A. song "
Fuck tha Police" in a segment discussing its subject matter (despite the full song having been played by the station before without incident). During the action, Triple J played another N.W.A. song, "
Express Yourself" (whose lyrics criticize
censorship of rap music), 82 times in a row. •
WJMP/
Kent, OH, in a protest over the
Major League Baseball players' strike, continuously played two versions of "
Take Me Out to the Ball Game" sunrise-to-sunset (the station
operated only during daytime hours), for two months (and 57,161 total plays) from August to October 1994. The stunt merited WJMP an entry in the
Guinness Book of Sports Records. • On April 16, 2012, after its sale by
Family Radio to Merlin Media,
WKDN/Philadelphia stunted for several hours with a loop of "
It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by
R.E.M., in an apparent reference to the
failed predictions by Family Radio owner
Harold Camping that the
Rapture would take place on May 21, 2011. Later in the day, the stunt shifted to nonstop airings of
The Sean Hannity Show as
Hannity @ 106.9 (with reruns of previous episodes aired when the show wasn't live), leading towards its relaunch under a news/
conservative talk format as
iQ 106.9. • Later that year, in honor of the
alleged Mayan apocalypse,
modern rock station
CFEX-FM/
Calgary stunted with a loop of "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" on December 21, 2012 with no change in format. The song was interspersed with "Apocalypse Survival Tips" and "Get to Know a
Mayan"
sketches. • Prior to its August 26, 2019 launch of a
sports talk format affiliated with
Fox Sports Radio,
WDAS/Philadelphia stunted with a loop of the
NFL on Fox theme music over the preceding weekend. The change in format was announced in advance of the flip. • In a non-music example, the launch of
Black Information Network—a chain of
iHeartMedia news radio stations targeting
African Americans—featured its initial stations playing a loop of speeches by prominent African Americans, mixed with
sweepers promoting the launch date, and containing the tagline "Our side of the story is about to be told." • Prior to the September 30, 2021 launch of an
adult hits format,
AAA station
KTHX-FM in Reno stunted with instrumental jazz music mixed with sweepers stating that the station was "
on hold". • On
Halloween in 2023,
CKFT-FM/
Fort Saskatchewan stunted with an hour-long loop of a sample from "
Thriller" by
Michael Jackson, consisting solely of
Vincent Price saying "Your body starts to shiver." This stunt led into its launch of
Christmas music for the holiday season. • On May 12, 2025, as part of a transition from
country music to adult hits
Big FM,
CKHK-FM/Rockland and
CHRC-FM/
Hawkesbury both stunted with a loop of "Bye Bye Mon Cowboy" by Quebecois musician
Mitsou; the stations' new owners also operate a French-language radio station in
Cornwall, Ontario, but the new stations would continue to broadcast in English.
Temporary formats 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. • As part of its February 1996 transition from country music to
rhythmic contemporary WKTU, 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, making jokes directed towards competitors
WHTZ and
WXRK, and pulling a prank on the latter's morning host
Howard Stern),
KKBT/Los Angeles,
WLUP/Chicago,
KIOI/San Francisco, and
WXKS/Boston. • 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; on August 3, 2006, the station emerged as
rhythmic adult contemporary Sexy 106.3. The station would hold a second publicity stunt in March 2007, promoting that KFYE would "say goodbye" on March 30: the ensuing event was a change in call letters to KSXE to match the
Sexy moniker. The stunt notably attracted the attention of an actual strip club in Kingston. The station emerged as adult hits
Lake FM on March 17, 2023. • 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. • 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. 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''. • 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 Radio Now, preventing WJZX from using the name. 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). • 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. • 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 from July 28-29, 2023, in honor of
The Eras Tour. • 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. •
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. • 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), and
CIGM (which led into its re-launch as CHR
Hot 93.5). • In connection with President
Donald Trump's presidency and the
2016,
2020, and
2024 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), and Hartford conservative talk station
WDRC (which temporarily rebranded as
Trump 103.3 to promote its new FM translator W277DT, before returning to its normal "Talk of Connecticut" branding). • On March 8, 2021, in observance of
International Women's Day,
KJAQ/Seattle
Jack FM temporarily rebranded as "Jill FM", and exclusively played
music by women. • 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. • On October 31, 2024,
WWKX in
Woonsocket, Rhode Island would drop its hip-hop format known as
Hot 106 and stunt for the next two days. October 31, fittingly, would see the station play
Halloween-themed music, while it would play songs from the
Grateful Dead on November 1, coinciding with the
Day of the Dead. At midnight, following the playing of the Grateful Dead song "
Dire Wolf" to conclude the stunt, the station flipped to classic rock as
106 .3 The Wolf. • On December 21, 2024,
WQRR in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama dropped its modern rock format and began stunting as
Radio 101.7. The station implied that it had been hijacked by
Russia, and initially played all-Taylor Swift music (some of which being covers of Swift songs in
Russian), and then all-
Michael Jackson music. The initial segment of the stunt would earn the station attention on social media, with users believing it was connected to the then-recent
reports of unmanned drones flying across various cities in the United States. By December 23, the stunt format had been changed to
80s music, with Christmas-themed bumpers promoting a new format launching on December 24. At that time, the station relaunched as
Christian adult contemporary 101.7 The River. • There have been examples since 2025 of stunt formats specifically meant to promote a brand using
AI-generated music. In June 2025,
KLLI-HD2/Los Angeles stunted as
106.3 The Fizz as part of an advertising campaign by
Suja-owned soft drink brand
Slice; the format carried a loop of AI music with lyrics related to soda, produced in the styles of the 1980s and 1990s (billed as "yesterday's pop hits, that didn't exist until now"), with a
chart show used as a framing device. The stunt lasted for a month, after which the channel flipped to an AI-automated
K-pop format in July 2025. • In January 2026,
KHYZ-HD2/Mountain Pass introduced a similar format sponsored by Las Vegas internet service provider ISP.net (which has provided services to the station), carrying songs with Internet-related themes (such as the
alternative song "Smells Like
Low Latency", and
reggae song "No
Buffer No Cry"). The company promoted that the station would "cut the clutter, the DJ banter, and the art, leaving only what you crave: unadulterated, non-stop promotion of our service offerings." • In January 2026, after it was taken over by Hudson Valley Public Radio,
WAXB in
Ridgefield, Connecticut began stunting as
85X XPerimental Radio, with a backstory suggesting that the station had been hijacked by
aliens. The format consists primarily of
yacht rock, although it has also carried other types of music such as disco and smooth jazz; co-owner Bud Williamson stated that the format was intended to be temporary, but suggested that it could be kept going given "the number of listeners it is attracting with little promotion." • On April 1, 2026,
KKSR in
Walla Walla, Washington held an April Fool's Day stunt during its morning show in which the station jokingly announced that it had been acquired by a Canadian company. The block consisted entirely of
music by Canadian performers, with even traffic and weather reports using
kilometers and
Celsius units instead of miles and
Fahrenheit.
Christmas music 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. • 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. 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. • In April 2008,
Saskatoon's new radio station
CFWD-FM stunted with Christmas music as
Santa FM prior to its official launch as CHR
Wired 96.3. In December 2012, the station used Christmas music to transition from CHR to
adult hits. • 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. •
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. •
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. • 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. After just over five months of stunting in total, WJSR flipped to classic hits
Awesome 100.9 on March 4, 2021. • 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.
Other • 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. • In 2018 and 2020, iHeartMedia used multiple stunts as part of its retooling 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" (with an accompanying contest soliciting viewer suggestions for new morning co-hosts). • 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. On August 3, 2020, the station temporarily rebranded as
Jubal 106.1 to promote the impending launch of
The Jubal Show, after which it adopted its new branding—
Hits 106.1—on August 20, 2020 to coincide with its premiere. • 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, 2020 with a new on-air lineup. • On August 25, 2025,
CIMX-FM/
Windsor began teasing a return to its heritage
89X modern rock format after having operated since 2020 as
Pure Country. During the transition, the station maintained its country format without airstaff, but began airing sweepers voiced in
Spanish (a reference to the spoken-word intro of "
Stop!" by
Jane's Addiction, which was the first and last song played by the original
89X) teasing a "revolution" and the return of "something familiar" at 8:08 a.m. on August 28. Prior to the advertised time, the station played a set of four
Johnny Cash songs with relations to
alternative music (including his cover of "
Hurt" by
Nine Inch Nails), after which the station flipped back to modern rock as a relaunched
89X.
Post-launch marathons Another publicity stunt associated with format changes are marathons of commercial-free music for a length of time after the launch; this is done as a form of
soft launch to help introduce the new format to listeners, as well as provide additional time for the station to build up their airstaff, programming, and advertising sales. ==On television==