No Hoper Repeat: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Occurs during [[Big Occasions]]. A variant is scheduling something special during a break in the action; for the [[Super Bowl]], that means a replacement Halftime Show, as no one wants to miss the ads. For some other major events, it means showing segments of your own programs during the other network's commercial breaks, and convincing people to flip back and forth.

 

* On [[Super Bowl]] Sunday, the cable channel [[Animal Planet]] schedules a program called the "[[Puppy Bowl]]" -- basically, extended footage of puppies playing in an enclosure resembling a football stadium, along with "play-by-play" commentary (for many years provided by an actual football announcer, Harry Kalas). From the second Puppy Bowl onwards, they had a kitten halftime show.

* When the famous ''[[Dallas]]'' "Who Shot J.R.?" episode was first broadcast, NBC officials joked that opposite it they would run only a card reading, "We're watching it too."

* During the [[Grand Finale]] episode of ''[[Seinfeld]]'', [[MTV]] interrupted programming whenever [[NBC]] went to commercial, and showed a clip from the then upcoming [[Animated Anthology]] ''Cartoon Sushi''. The host claimed they were timing their broadcast by looking out the window of the studio, and watching the giant TV in Times Square.

** During that episode, [[TV Land]] ran a card encouraging its viewers to turn to ''Seinfeld''. The same was done for ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]''.

** In Australia, ''Seinfeld'' was run on two channels--one new episodes, one reruns--at about the same time. When the finale was shown here, the other channel showed only a black screen.

* The US version of ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'' [[Tropes Are Not Bad|actually benefited from low expectations]]. [[ABC]] aired it Thursdays at 8:00 (7:00 Central), opposite ''[[Friends]]'' on NBC and ''[[Survivor]]'' on CBS. ABC knew ''Whose Line'' was cheap to produce and had a dedicated fanbase, and ''Whose Line'' survived much longer than if it had been expected to attract high [[Ratings]].

* The last few years of the MTV Video Music Awards, every MTV network (including [[VH-1]] and digital channels such as MTV Hits and [[VH-1]] Classic) have gone to black screen directing viewers to MTV. Before then they aired their lousiest programming (for [[VH-1]] for instance, the run-into-the-ground TV movie ''The Jacksons: An American Dream'') to drive viewers to the VMA's.

* The ''[[Beauty Pageant|Miss Venezuela]]'' gala is the Venezuelan equivalent of the [[Super Bowl]], and attracts a wide share; the other channels know this, and either keep their usual programmation or play movies of the national and/or controversial variety. One year, the members of a popular late show decided that the best way to compete would be [[Drinking Game|organizing a party]] to [[MST|watch and mock]] the beauty contest, and broadcast it simultaneously. In some moments, the special got higher ratings than the contest they were watching.

* The soccer final in Mexico, as well as some derby matches such as Chivas vs. América, are often accompanied by old Mexican movies on the other channels.

** ITV did actually put some effort into competing against ''Doctor Who'' in the show's first relaunched season in 2005. ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' aired against the first four episodes of the revival, and while it didn't beat ''Doctor Who'', it still performed pretty well in the ratings, all things considered. ITV's next effort, ''Celebrity Wrestling'' got utterly ripped to shreds in the ratings though, and became a national joke within days. ITV subsequently realised that shows like ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' were best saved for when the BBC themselves were broadcasting No Hoper Repeats, and since then have mostly aired old films and clip shows against ''Doctor Who''.

** Ironically, Doctor Who was ''itself'' an example of this trope when it was broadcast against ITV's ''[[Coronation Street]]'' from 1987--1989.