History Main / CoincidentalBroadcast

* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': In the debut story of the Queen of Fables, shortly after she awakens in the modern world, she mistakes a TV for a magic mirror and commands it to reveal who the FairestOfThemAll is. The TV was showing news coverage of the Justice League's most recent battle, and at that moment showed Franchise/WonderWoman. The Queen then plots to destroy her, [[ThoroughlyMistakenIdentity thinking Wonder Woman is her ancient enemy]], Literature/SnowWhite.

* In ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', the female lead sees the advert right before she opens her fridge to find a parallel universe in there.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', the only person who has faith in Mario and Luigi's plumbing business is their mother, with their father telling Mario off for being a plumber and causing him to go to his room depressed. When this happens, after playing some ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', Mario turns on the news and happens to see a report about a water main problem in Brooklyn that is causing the streets to flood - exactly the thing he and Luigi need to fix to restore their reputation.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': The episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E8TimeEnoughAtLast Time Enough at Last]]" manages this trope with a ''newspaper''. Henry Bemis opens the paper to see that the top headline on the first page (which actually has a realistic layout) is '''"H-Bomb Capable of Total Destruction"'''... and you can guess [[NukeEm what happens next]]. Probably justified, since a hydrogen bomb being completed is pretty big news.

* The opening scene of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' shows a group of kidnappers watching a TV news report about their crime. This is preceded by a business news item that introduces two bits of exposition: Bruce Wayne is now considerably older, and a rival named Derek Powers has been trying to take over his company.

* In a WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon, Donald's encounters with a gorilla named Ajax are accompanied by advice given on the radio on dealing with Ajax.

* A ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' short had the radio making relevant broadcasts about a white mouse that had escaped from a lab after drinking a experimental explosive. The advice isn't necessarily trustworthy.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Played with during ''Stardust Crusaders''. When Joseph Joestar tries to use his Stand's ability of diviniation on a TV set in order to learn information about the enemy, it rapidly flicks through channels in a way that forms a complete sentence from bits of dialogue from different broadcasts.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': When the Black Knights get their new [[strike:RV]] mobile fortress, one of the first things they do is check out the TV set -- which happens to be broadcasting news of the hotel takeover incident. Conveniently, it's right at the start of the incident, allowing them to move in and save the day.

* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' has a Coincidental Broadcast about a Coincidental News Event: After learning that a Pemalite ship has been found underwater by the Yeerks, the Animorphs discuss ways of diving that deep (such as sperm whales or giant squid). That very evening, Rachel catches the tail end of a report about a sperm whale that beached itself in their town. This is no coincidence, as they very well know. Either of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s using them as pawns in their game made the whale beach itself so the kids could go out to sea and find the ship.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' the hero Lucas Kane is beginning to understand someone used ancient Maya magic to force him to commit a crime. He's wondering what to do next, turns on the TV, and, surprise! stumbles upon the interview of a world-famous Maya religion expert who precisely happens to be organizing an exhibition in the same city. Possibly justified, since [[spoiler:that's the guy who did it, and he's got an entire set of plans built around Lucas]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Beyond Two Souls}}'' [[spoiler:After Jodie Holmes kills Gemaal Sheik Charrief, who Jodie was told was a dangerous warlord, on the helicopter ride back to America she turns on the TV to hear a news report about him and learns that he was not a warlord, but in fact a democratically elected president. This causes her to defect from the CIA.]].

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #43, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are watching a music program which is suddenly interrupted by a special bulletin with breaking news of Rhino's rampage.

* In a sketch from ''Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses'' ([[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/sketches/868-gnn-interviews-the-joker GNN - Interviews the Joker]]), the Joker idly asks the interviewer, Lori Prince, if he was forced to choose between the life of his dog and his cat, which he would choose. After saying he would pick the cat, [[spoiler:an explosion is heard from the Joker's end]]. Shortly afterward, the news ticker at the bottom of the screen starts saying things like [[spoiler:BREAKING NEWS: Small explosion rocks upscale home of late night talk show host, Lori Prince]].

* One episode of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' has one of Aramaki's political contacts call him and ask if he's watching the news. When Aramaki says no, he urges him to turn it on, just in time for Aramaki to hear the start of a breaking news development.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', the only person who has faith in Mario and Luigi's plumbing business is their mother, with their father telling Mario off for being a plumber and causing him to go to his room depressed. When this happens, after playing some ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', Mario turns on the news and happens to see a report about a water main problem in Brooklyn - exactly the thing he and Luigi need to fix to restore their reputation.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', the only person who has faith in Mario and Luigi's plumbing business is their mother, with their father telling Mario off for being a plumber and causing him to go to his room depressed. When this happens, after playing some ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', he turns on the news and happens to see a report about a water main problem in Brooklyn - exactly the thing Mario and Luigi need to fix to restore their reputation.

** In ''ComicBook/WhoTookTheSuperOutOfSuperman'', Superman drops by ComicBook/JimmyOlsen's place, and he is told right way that some superpowerful loony is going on a crime spree. Then Jimmy turns on his radio just in time to hear a new broadcast reporting Solarman's current whereabouts.
** In ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/LanaLang switch on the news to find villain Reactron escaped from police custody.

* In ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976'', in once of his first appearances, Bishop is listening to radio news about "Street Thunder," the oddly gigantic, multiracial, murderous, and well-armed gang that ends up performing the unexpected "assault" of the title.
* ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''. Roy Neary obsessively creates sculptures of a butte/mesa to match the image placed in his mind during a UFO encounter. A news broadcast shows Devil's Tower, Wyoming, which is an exact match for his sculptures. Neary takes the hint and leaves for Devil's Tower. Somewhat justified in that the government had planted false stories of an anthrax outbreak centered on Devil's Tower to drive people away from the area so they wouldn't see the alien spaceships arriving.
** Spielberg also plays with the trope by having Neary fail to notice the TV for several minutes while it's showing footage of Devil's Tower.
* This happens with an Entertainment News show early on in ''Film/TropicThunder''
* Subverted in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', where Shaun switches on the news to find they're talking about the zombie plague...and promptly changes the channel. But the chunks of speech from the various channels [[TwoScenesOneDialogue all form a continuous sentence]] (even though Shaun doesn't seem to notice anyway).
-->'''Krishnan Guru-Murthy:''' Though no one official is prepared to comment, religious groups are calling it Judgement Day. There's - \\
'''Morrissey:''' - Panic on the streets of London... \\
'''Newsreader:''' - as an increasing number of reports of - \\
'''Football Commentator:''' - serious attacks on - \\
'''Newsreader:''' - people, who are literally being - \\
'''Wildlife Documentary Narrator:''' - eaten alive. \\
'''Jeremy Thompson:''' The witness reports are sketchy, but one unifying detail seems to be that the attackers in many instances appear to be - \\
'''Vernon Kaye:''' - dead excited to have with us here a sensational chart topping -
* Done similarly in ''Film/DeadSet'' - there are constant TV news reports in the background about growing panic and riots in the streets, but the producer's only concern is that a news bulletin might interrupt his live show.
* In ''Film/TheTerminator'', there's a news broadcast about a killed Sarah Connor. When Sarah is fetched from the restaurant, the newscaster conveniently adds "To recap:" and then repeats the entire story.
* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', while hiding in the theater from [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad The Weasels]], Eddie was about to give up on piecing together the connection Cloverleaf Industries had with Acme's murder when a news reel came on about Maroon's sellout to said company.
* ''Film/BabylonAD.'' this is used a bit more judiciously. There's an entire wall showing dozens of channels, which makes it easier to accept if at least one of the channels is showing something relevant.
* Spoofed in ''Film/ReturnOfTheKillerTomatoes'', when the hero turns on an old monster movie, where the character therein gives him a foolproof plan for saving the day. And then gives it to him again. And then again. And then points out that he has just given the hero a GOOD IDEA ALREADY. The hero, finally realizes what he has to do, much to the relief of the guy in the old movie.
* Parodied in ''Film/JohnnyDangerously'' when the villain, Vermin, needs to kill the DA. Vermin turns on the radio, which immediately (1920 era tube-warmup time notwithstanding) details that the DA will be watching a movie premier that night. After he turns the radio off, his lackey asks what theatre they will be at. Vermin turns the radio back on, and the radio gives him the theatre name and address.
* In ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' the female lead sees the advert right before she opens her fridge to find a parallel universe in there.

* Turns up ''very'' bizarrely, and without irony, in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' when Bruce and Selina are kissing on the couch: Bruce's TV set ''turns itself on'' (at least, we can only assume, since Bruce and Selina had been sitting on the couch since the scene began and we hadn't heard any background noise earlier) so that a news reporter can conveniently announce "We repeat: the Ice Princess has been kidnapped!" (Especially absurd because Bruce and Selina had planned to watch the Christmas-tree lighting on TV in the first place, but then apparently forgot in the wake of pursuing their...uh, other activity.)
* Justified in ''Film/TheOstermanWeekend'' when a 'news article' on the illicit use of Swiss bank accounts appears on television as part of the MindScrew tactics being used against the protagonists. It's actually being sent via a video feed by the CIA surveillance team.
* ''Film/{{Superman}}'' films
** In ''Film/SupermanReturns'' Clark goes to a local bar to mull over Lois' engagement to Richard. Fortunately, the television is tuned to coverage of an experimental shuttle launch that Lois is covering, all just minutes before Luthor knocks it out of the sky.
*** We even get the news camera pointing at Lois as she asks a question to make sure Superman knows she's on the plane when its not normal practice for a newscamera to point at a print journalist when she's asking a question. Usually, you'd hear Lois speaking in the background with the camera still pointed at the spokeswoman.
*** Possible FridgeBrilliance. Being the worldwide known Superman exclusive journalist and greatest link to Superman she's certainly more well known than the person she's interviewing.
** ''Film/SupermanII''. After Clark (de-powered Superman) gets beaten up by a bully, the diner's waitress turns on the TV and there's a broadcast by the President of the U.S. surrendering the Earth to General Zod. This clues Clark into the fact that he needs to get his superpowers back ASAP.

* In the ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' movie, [[spoiler:Ozymandias]] turns on his giant wall of televisions just as President Nixon begins his statement on the events he just described to the protagonists.
* In ''{{Film/Heat}}'' this is how Donald Breedan's wife learns of his death in the bank robbery shootout. Somewhat justified in that it's a major breaking news story and he was killed in the midst of a pretty deadly shootout in the middle of downtown Los Angeles in which at least five people were killed (Cheritto, Breedan, a police detective, a patrol officer and a grocery store employee).
* Seen in ''{{Film/Se7en}}'' when Mills enters an office with a TV on just in time to catch a news report on the serial killer's murder. Justified in that it's a live broadcast, and Mills walked through the press conference it's covering 30 seconds ago.
* Both subverted and played straight in ''Film/{{Network}}''. Network executive Frank Hackett gets on the phone with another network staffer, who immediately starts complaining about the content of that day's episode of The Howard Beale Show. Hackett asks his interlocutor to calm down, saying that he's in California and the other staffer is in New York, so New York's local network aired the show three hours earlier and Hackett couldn't have gotten a chance to see it yet. Meanwhile, the show is on TV in the same room where Hackett is, but he completely ignores it; in fact, he asks the hotel staff to turn down the volume so he can take the phone call. After hanging up, though, he does turn his attention to the show.

* In ''Film/{{They}}'', Julia comes home and turns on the TV to hear a story about rolling blackouts in the city. She's just recently learned that the only thing that can keep her safe is the light.
* ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'' - Mickey, after picking up hitchhiking Pee-Wee, switches on the radio to the announcement "...is believed to be armed and dangerous" and promptly switches it off - as if the handcuffs weren't a giveaway.
* Since the FramingDevice of ''Film/EighthWonderland'' requires this, almost every television scene in the movie fits this trope.
* In the '80s horror flick ''Film/TrickOrTreat'', Eddie turns on the TV to a news report about his favorite rock star. Unusual in that he missed the beginning, so doesn't hear the main point of the story (that the guy just died) until after the report's retrospective.
* Subverted in ''Film/ArlingtonRoad'' Michael turns on the TV and comes in at the end of a news story about an auto accident, he goes through another channel before getting the full story.
* TV news on ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' are conveniently aired when needed for a scene.

* A low-tech version appears in ''TinkerbellAndTheLostTreasure'', where the play at Fairy Tale theater just happens to be the prophesy that Tink needed to hear.
* Averted at the beginning of ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla.'' The news broadcast spends about a minute on an irrelevant earthquake in Chile before moving to discussing events that are important to the plot. Played straight for the rest of the movie.
** Speaking of Godzilla, [[Film/Godzilla1954 the very first film]] has a good example. As Dr. Serizawa laments on what he should do with his Oxygen Destroyer, his television broadcasts footage of a choir group of children singing for peace and hope, finally encouraging him to use his device to kill Godzilla. Its especially noticeable because the television WASN'T EVEN ON, and no one was close enough to switch it on either.
* In ''Film/TellNoOne'' [[spoiler: Margot, who has been FakingTheDead, has decided not to go through with meeting Alexandre because it's too risky, so she goes to the airport to leave and never come back. As she's about to board, she sees a news broadcast that names Alexandre as a murder suspect. Because of this, she decides not to board the plane, and thus narrowly escapes the police]].
* ''Film/TheTrumanShow'' has a scene where Truman's own car radio accidentally picks up a frequency used by the show's producers, so he gets a convenient and alarming play-by-play of his ''own'' movements.
* In ''Film/GetSmart'', in a bizarre twist on this trope, Max gets a coincidental ''cake'', which contains a note telling him to turn on the radio, which causes him to catch [[spoiler:a public message one of KONTROL's mooks aired to tell Max where a nuclear device will be detonated, as a thank-you for Max hearing him out on his marital problems.]]
* In ''Film/TradingPlaces'', Valentine and Winthorp have finally gotten on the same page as they want revenge on the Duke Brothers. As they mull over their options, Ophelia is watching the news and points out the man who bribed her as part of the plan to ruin Louis. The broadcast discusses how this is Clarence Beeks, assigned to be security for a crop report before it goes public. Valentine and Winthorp instantly recognize the name from payroll records and realize the Dukes' plot to corner the market by getting the report early.
* This happening in ''Film/AloneInTheDark1982'' actually saves the day. [[spoiler:When the last maniac, a paranoid schizophrenic, has the cast on arrowpoint, the BigBlackout is fixed and the electricity comes back. And just in time to put the television back on to show the news, which features an interview with one Dr. Merton, the guy whose "death" the maniac and his fellow mental patients were trying to avenge. Upset about learning that he has been fighting the wrong fight, the maniac simply leaves]].
* A non-news example occurs in ''Film/TheGame1997''. Sitting in a diner; with his ex-wife, Nicholas sees Jim Feingold (the man who administered the Game's exams earlier in the film) playing a television-commercial "doctor" on the place's TV. At first thinking that the Game runners have found him, he quickly realizes that "Feingold" is a TV actor (of course, given that the Game runners ''have'' been watching him and are always [[XanatosSpeedChess one step ahead of him]], it's quite possible that the broadcast isn't as "coincidental" as Nicholas thinks it is).
* In ''Film/FourLions'', a character is on a tram when he hears a news broadcast on the vehicle's TV screens alerting him to the fact that another character's body has been discovered.
* ''Film/TuckerAndDaleVsEvil'' has a paper version, when an old newspaper found in a derelict building coincidentally turns out to have a front-page story revealing a major plot twist.

* Played with in ''Film/RoughNight''; the protagonists do see a television broadcast revealing that the man they had killed earlier and presumed was the stripper they'd hired for the night was [[spoiler:actually a jewel thief, as well as revealing that the two men who came to their house are actually the thief's accomplices]], but in this case the TV was already on; it had been set to mute since the bachelorette party began and one of the group glanced at the TV at just the right time.
* At the beginning of ''Film/EddieAndTheCruisers II: Eddie Lives!'', Eddie, now working construction in Montreal, walks into a bar to grab lunch. Not only are the [=TVs=] in the bar all showing ''music news'', it's music news ''about Eddie''--specifically, that there will be an Eddie Wilson lookalike contest that night in New York City. Next scene: Eddie driving from Montreal to New York. The movie does this over and over again, alternating between ex-MTV veejay Martha Quinn and ''Larry King''.
--> '''Website/TheAgonyBooth:''' This whole scene illustrates, by the way, our film's commitment to the time-honored and inviolable '''Hey! Turn on the TV! Rule''': if you're a movie character, everything on television is about you.
* ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. At the beginning of the movie, Doc Brown's TV is automatically turned on just before Marty arrives. It shows a news broadcast about the theft of some plutonium by some Libyan terrorists. After Marty arrives the audience is shown a box containing plutonium underneath a bed, and it later turns out that the terrorists stole the plutonium in the hope that Doc Brown would use it to create an atomic bomb for them.

* ''Film/CoolAsIce'': Both the protagonist and antagonist learn about Kathy's identity when they see her interviewed by a TV reporter. Adding to the improbability, the villain watches the interview in a location which is implied to be far away from Kathy's hometown, and presumably in a different media market.
* In ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'', [[BigBad Dr. Sivana]] after loosing Shazam, who transforms back into Billy Batson, in the middle of the panicked crowd at the mall where they first fought, Sivana is able to track him down when he sees Freddy, another boy living in Billy's foster home, looking for Billy as a news clip plays of him arguing with Shazam.
* ''Film/FlashGordon1980'': In Zarkov's lab, the television just happens to be talking about his wild and crazy ideas about an alien apocalypse.
* In ''Film/ISawWhatYouDid'', Kit and her father are listening to a ballgame on the radio while driving home from Libby's when the game is interrupted by a report about the murdered woman found in the woods, including a vague description of the murderer.
* In ''Film/TheYoungPoisonersHandbook'', Dr. Zeigler happens to walking past the inmates' rec room at precisely the right moment to see footage of Graham being arrested on the news.
* Played with in ''Film/{{Quicksand}}''. As Harvey and Helen drive away from the pier, they turn on the car radio to see if there is any news about Dan. They radio comes on midway through a story detailing a massive police manhunt with roadblocks on all the major highways. However, as the story ends they discover it is about a major crime in the capital. It is followed by a local news item about Dan, and they learn that Mackey is still alive.
* ''Film/{{Wolves}}'': Played with. Cayden is watching TV with the Tollermans when a news broadcast about him comes on. Panicking, he turns the TV off before he can be exposed as a fugitive and awkwardly announces that he's going out. When he comes back hours later with Angel, he walks in to find them watching a news story that clearly shows his face. Weakly, he asks if that's been on the whole time, and Clara admits they Tivo'd it. They're playing it as a way of starting a conversation about Cayden's past, and where he came from.
* Axel Foley in ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopII'' arrives for an undercover meeting with a criminal who's running a little late. He sits down in an empty office ''just in time'' to hear a TV news report of Bogomil's shooting.

* In ''Film/{{UHF}}'', George is in a seedy bar ready to begin a new career in drinking after reaching his DespairEventHorizon. But the bar's TV happens to be tuned in to Channel 62 and the patrons are watching the show George just casually put Stanley Spadowski--the station's janitor--in charge of. Their enthusiastic reaction to Stanley on the air convinces George to race back to the station, and it's the turning point of the story.
* In ''Film/{{Casper}}'', when Casper is trying to look for a friend, he changes the channel to ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'', [[note]] The clip shown is not an actual episode of the show, however; it instead comes from the "Musical Stories" release. [[/note]] with the show discussing how proud you should feel to be yourself.

* In ''Film/TradingPlaces'', Valentine and Winthorp have finally gotten on the same page as they want revenge on the Duke Brothers. As they mull over their options, Ophelia is watching the news and points out the man who bribed her as part of the plan to ruin Louis. The broadcast discusses how this is Deeks, assigned to be security for a crop report before it goes public. Valentine and Winthorp instantly recognize the name from records and realize the Dukes' plot to corner the market by getting the report early.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''
** Parodied in the "Nasty Patty" episode, after Spongebob and Mr. Krabs play a prank on what they think is a phony health inspector:

--->'''Squidward:''' Spongebob, this is the final straw. I want to move ''so'' far away that I will be able to brag about it! I [[WouldRatherSuffer would rather tear out my brain stem, carry it into the middle of the nearest four-way intersection and skip rope with it]] than go on living where I do now!\\

** On March 16, 2020 at 10:00AM EST, when most television stations [[BreakingNewsInterruption interrupted their programming]] to alert viewers of businesses being closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, most PBS affiliates in the Eastern timezone reran the ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' episode "Daniel Gets A Cold; Mom Tiger Is Sick", which is about characters getting sick. PBS would take notice of what happened and [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents pull the episode from its' lineup]].

** On March 16, 2020 at 10:00AM EST, when most television stations [[BreakingNewsInterruption interrupted their programming]] to alert viewers of businesses being closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, most stations in the Eastern timezone reran the ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' episode "Daniel Gets A Cold; Mom Tiger Is Sick", which is about characters getting sick. PBS would take notice of what happened and [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents pull the episode from its' lineup]].

* At the exact time that Queen Elizabeth II's death was announced (September 8, 2022 at 1:30PM EST), most Creator/{{PBS}} affiliates in the Eastern timezone were airing a rerun of the ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' episode "The Masked Veggies; The Royal Hosts", whose second segment focuses on Donkey Hodie and Purple Panda meeting [[spoiler: King Friday]] for the first time.

* At the exact time that Queen Elizabeth II's death was announced (1:30PM EST), most Creator/{{PBS}} affiliates in the Eastern timezone were airing a rerun of the ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' episode "The Masked Veggies; The Royal Hosts", whose second segment focuses on Donkey Hodie and Purple Panda meeting [[spoiler: King Friday]] for the first time.

* During the premiere of the ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' episode "Art Show Today; The Lavender Lights" on PBS affiliate WNET, a local ident with a rocketship flying played right before the show began. The episode's second segment involved Duck Duck getting over her fear of rocketships.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Variant. Joseph quickly switches between different channels to get a complete message; it's justified as manipulating machinery to see the future is the power of his Stand.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': When the Black Knights get their new [[strike:RV]] mobile fortress, one of the first things they do is check out the TV set -- which happens to be broadcasting news of the hoteljacking incident. Conveniently, it's right at the start of the incident, allowing them to move in and save the day.