History Main / NoHoperRepeat

* In mid-March 2020, the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic turned almost every sports channel, and weekend afternoon on the major networks, into a sea of such content (particularly "classic" event encores, usually saved for the off-season) since pretty much all sports have been suspended or cancelled worldwide, to various degrees (to the point Wiki/TheOtherWiki considers it the largest disruption to the sporting calendar since UsefulNotes/WorldWarII). There have been aversions, including [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming eSports]] competitions (such as online races involving drivers from suspended racing series), ESPN attempting to run a H-O-R-S-E competition using webcams and NBA players' personal courts, both CBS and Fox replacing cancelled award shows with "living room concert" specials as an alternative, and Wrestling/{{WWE}} and Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling going on with their shows in smaller studios with no audience (even Wrestling/WrestleMania -- although the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches successfully delivered SomethingCompletelyDifferent).

* On a related note, [=ESPN2=] usually dug out poker to run against ''Series/MondayNightFootball'' during the gap between the start of NFL season and the start of college basketball. In 2017, they decided to fill it with a Spanish simulcast from ESPN Deportes instead.

* The terrorist attacks of 9/11 and UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror are a spectacular example. Any channel with even a tangential relationship to news reporting was airing non-stop updates, while other networks aired the most anodyne canned material they could find (partially out of respect and partially because they knew no one was watching - including them), and some just stopped broadcast altogether. Thankfully, such programming provided an opportunity to escape from the HeroicBSOD for a few minutes, if needed. Very little original programming aired on any network for at least a week. Sites like the [[http://archive.org/details/911/day/20010912#/ Understanding 9/11]] repository from the Internet Archive show how much the different networks' coverage converged immediately after the attacks. (Website/TheOnion [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100325205520/http://www.theonion.com/issue/3734/ also not only provided a spot-on "On TV Tonight"...]], but parodied this trope in a piece about the new "[[http://www.theonion.com/articles/network-programming-dominated-by-surreality-tv,3293/ surreality TV]]" genre spawned in the wake of the attack.)

* During the fifteenth series of ''Series/TopGear'', the trio knew that one of their episodes was going to go out against UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup Final on both BBC and ITV. Figuring no-one would be watching, they didn't put much effort into the episode, which didn't even include a Power Lap, although it did contain two Star-in-a-Reasonably-Priced-Car records being broken: Rubens Barrichello on the F1 leaderboard, and [[Film/HarryPotter Rupert Grint]] in the Cee'd (and breaking the Liana and Lacetti records before it). The following week, Jeremy Clarkson admitted even he didn't watch that episode, as he was ''in Johannesburg at the final'' at the time. A similar thing happened again when they realized they were in a losing fight against ''BBC Sports Personality Of The Year''.

* This was attempted in reverse by the UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush campaign during the 1988 US presidential election. Fearing a poor debate performance against Michael Dukakis, the Bush campaign agreed to two televised debates--one to be scheduled against the Olympics and the other against baseball's National League Championship Series. The broadcast networks foiled this plan by quickly accommodating the debates in their schedules. NBC suspended their Olympic programming for an hour and a half, while ABC scheduled a late start for the baseball game, which was being played at Dodgers Stadium on the West Coast.
* Similarly, when it became apparent that UsefulNotes/BarackObama's first State of the Union address would conflict with ''Series/{{Lost}}'''s sixth season premiere, ''the president'' rescheduled. He reshuffled to accommodate the TV schedule again in September 2011 for a speech to Congress that had already been rescheduled once to appease the GOP (it had originally been set for the night of a Republican primary debate), which was shuffled again to an earlier time to avoid competing with the Saints/Packers season kickoff game. Needless to say, in Wisconsin and Louisiana? You didn't see that speech on NBC at all.

* Variant: Brazilian channel Record, whose owner is the founder of the megachurch [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IURD Universal Church of the Kingdom of God]], failed to acquire 2014 UsefulNotes/{{FIFA World Cup}} broadcast rights. Instead, they aired religious movies/miniseries, and the channel president/church leader requested a "TV fast" from his followers during the Cup; the church tried to cover up the obvious motive by saying the cause of such an attitude was a new temple instead of TV ratings.

** Fox counterprogrammed the premiere of the ABC revival by showing ''O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession?'', a special featuring footage from a cancelled O. J. Simpson interview special for his book ''If I Did It'', in which he hypothetically described how he would have performed the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, if he were the one responsible. The special was supposed to air in 2005, nearly 13 years earlier.

* Just prior to the final episode of ''Series/TheLateShowWithDavidLetterman'' (which aired on May 20, 2015 on Creator/{{CBS}}), Creator/ConanOBrien told the audience some fond memories about Letterman's help during his early career, then [[http://teamcoco.com/video/goodbye-dave advised the people watching]] [[Series/{{Conan}} his show]] at home during the opening monologue to switch over and watch the episode instead of his; this was an easy call as the shows only overlap by 25 minutes.

* When the final episode of ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' premiered, Fox countered it with an hourlong "Bart Bonanza" of two fan-favorite ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episodes, [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E21ThreeMenAndAComicBook "Three Men and a Comic Book"]] and [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E13RadioBart "Radio Bart"]]. It ended with a short animation (which was almost entirely the scene from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E7BartVsThanksgiving "Bart vs. Thanksgiving"]] where Homer and Bart watch the Thanksgiving parade, redubbed with new dialogue) that has (despite never being shown again, even on the DVD's) proven to be HilariousInHindsight regarding the subsequent SeasonalRot of ''The Simpsons''.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'':

** 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''.

* Creator/TheBBC has played this along with a TakeThat, going up against the ''Series/BigBrother'' finale with an episode of ''Judge John Deed'' that utterly annihilates reality TV.

** ESPN has occasionally done special event broadcasts across their channels in a similar format, formerly referred to as ''ESPN Full Circle'', but now referred to as the "Megacast" and typically done for the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball College Football Playoff]] games. Every ESPN channel airs some feed of the game with alternate perspectives or features (such as the "Film Room" with extended play analysis by an expert panel -- usually former coaches, a reaction stream of a bunch of personalities just watching the game, Paul Finebaum cheerleading the inevitable SEC team on SEC Network and taking viewer phone calls at the half, no commentary, alternate camera angles, Spanish, etc.

* As Russia had advanced to the gold medal game of the 2020 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, its broadcast in the country was moved to Channel One at the last minute. The sports network Match TV -- which had carried all other games up to that point -- showed a rerun of the 2011 gold medal game (Russia's most recent gold medal win) against it. As both games involved Canada and Russia, this led to confusion when some viewers thought that the game on Match TV ''was'' the 2020 game. [[DontCelebrateJustYet Cue Russians celebrating their victory from nine years ago on social media]], until they realized ''Canada'' had won. One of said viewers was the head of Russia's PE, Sports, Tourism and Youth Matters Committee, who probably should've known better ([[https://tjournal.ru/internet/134596-vo-vremya-finala-molodezhnogo-chempionata-mira-po-hokkeyu-match-tv-pokazal-zapis-finala-2011-goda-ne-vse-zametili-raznicu he apparently lost a game of Alias and had to post the "wrong" results and congratulations message in Instagram]]). Another mistaken viewer was someone who actually played for Russia played in that very game; he had it on in the background without sound on, and had a small freak-out when he saw ''himself'' on the ice.

* {{Defied|Trope}} with HBO. Since their Sunday night lineup as of February 2017 (''Literature/BigLittleLies'', ''Series/{{Girls}}'' and ''Crashing'') conflicts with the Oscars, they made the newest episodes of each series available on their streaming services two days early, so fans wouldn't have to flip back and forth between them.

* On September 20, 2020, Nick Jr. ran a ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig'' marathon against the Primetime Emmys.

** Creator/{{CBS}} aired one movie from the Creator/{{Paramount}} library every Sunday evening during May 2020: ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', ''Film/ForrestGump'', ''Film/MissionImpossible'', ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' and ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. After the postponement of the Tony Awards, a sing-along showing of ''Film/{{Grease}}'' was added on June 7 as a replacement.
** As an additional commemoration of ChristmasInJuly, some TV stations including Nickelodeon and Hallmark Channel ran Christmas programming on July 25th. In addition, some radio stations in the U.S., including Long Island-based WBLI and Phoenix-based KEZ, aired Christmas music the same day.

** Some radio stations switched to their all-Christmas format in October as a result of people wanting LighterAndSofter programming in wake of the attacks. It was successful, and the tradition continues to this day.

** Some TV stations including Nickelodeon and Hallmark Channel ran Christmas programming on July 25th. In addition, some radio stations, including Long Island-based WBLI, aired Christmas music the same day.

** Some TV stations including Nickelodeon and Hallmark Channel ran Christmas programming on July 25th. Several radio stations also aired Christmas music the same day.

** Some radio stations, including WBLI in New York, ran Christmas music in July for an entire weekend.

* When the ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' episode "Pups Save The Mighty Twins", which introduced two new characters, premiered on Nickelodeon, three networks aimed at children counter-programmed either marathons or new episodes of preschool programming against it.

** Speaking of ''Teen Titans Go!'', most of the show's marathons that do not promote a new episode are this. The most common reason for these no-hoper marathons is to compete with a new Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} premiere that is hyped up, which is usually a new special for ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. This even extends to the specials based on older properties like ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling]]''. Another common reason to hold no-hoper marathons of ''Teen Titans Go!'' is during bad weather events like snowstorms and hurricanes, to the point where [[http://mimitchi333.tumblr.com/post/172136653526/just-another-average-day-for-cartoon-network a photo of the schedule at the time of Winter Storm Toby]] actually [[MemeticMutation went viral]]. Holidays are yet another excuse to marathon ''TTG!'', as best exemplified with [[https://cnschedulearchive.tumblr.com/post/168642440055/as-much-as-id-like-to-claim-this-is-a-practical the Christmas/New Year's schedule in 2017]] (''Titans'' takes up a whopping 99%[!] of the daytime schedule, only broken up by a half-hour of''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episodes), which went even ''more'' [[MemeticMutation viral]] and to this day is still held up as an especially egregious example of AdoredByTheNetwork.

* When the second ''[[Series/SesameStreet The [=ABCs=] of COVID-19: A Sesame Street Town Hall]]'' special aired on CNN on June 13, 2020, sister channels Creator/CartoonNetwork and Creator/{{Boomerang}} ran marathons of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' on the day of the special to counterprogram it.

** Some general entertainment cable channels decided to put on family-oriented programming to comfort children. The most notable example was when most Warner Media-owned networks[[note]]HBO, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Tru TV[[/note]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] Creator/PBSKids showed the ''Series/SesameStreet'' special ''Elmo's Playdate'' on the evening of April 14th, with the regular PBS network showing it during daytime hours the following day. A few broadcast channels also did this, mostly ABC (owned by Disney), who resurrected the weekly ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' for a four-week stint in May-June 2020, showing (in order) ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6''.

** Some general entertainment cable channels decided to put on family-oriented programming to comfort children. The most notable example was when most Warner Media-owned networks[[note]]HBO, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Tru TV[[/note]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] Creator/PBSKids showed the ''Series/SesameStreet'' special ''Elmo's Playdate'' on the evening of April 14th, with the regular PBS network showing it during daytime hours the following day.

** Speaking of ''Teen Titans Go!'', most of the show's marathons that do not promote a new episode are this. The most common reason for these no-hoper marathons is to compete with a new Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} premiere that is hyped up, which is usually a new special for ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. This even extends to the specials based on older properties like ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling]]''. Another common reason to hold no-hoper marathons of ''Teen Titans Go!'' is during bad weather events like snowstorms and hurricanes, to the point where [[http://mimitchi333.tumblr.com/post/172136653526/just-another-average-day-for-cartoon-network the one held during Winter Storm Toby]] actually [[MemeticMutation became a meme]].

** Several children's networks made changes to their schedule as a result of the pandemic. Disney Channel and Nickelodeon had to adjust their schedules to account for the fact that most children were off from school thanks to the pandemic by ending their preschool blocks early. Certain episodes of shows that air on each network that depicted sick characters were pulled, and some channels pulled out older programming, some of which hasn't been rerun in ''years'', to entertain viewers (for example, Creator/DisneyJunior began to re-run ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'')
** Some general entertainment cable channels decided to put on family-oriented programming to comfort children. The most notable example was when most Warner Media-owned networks[[note]]HBO, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Tru TV[[/note]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and]] Creator/PBSKids showed the ''Series/SesameStreet'' special ''Elmo's Playdate'' on the evening of April 14th.

* The terrorist attacks of 9/11 and TheWarOnTerror are a spectacular example. Any channel with even a tangential relationship to news reporting was airing non-stop updates, while other networks aired the most anodyne canned material they could find (partially out of respect and partially because they knew no one was watching - including them), and some just stopped broadcast altogether. Thankfully, such programming provided an opportunity to escape from the HeroicBSOD for a few minutes, if needed. Very little original programming aired on any network for at least a week. Sites like the [[http://archive.org/details/911/day/20010912#/ Understanding 9/11]] repository from the Internet Archive show how much the different networks' coverage converged immediately after the attacks. (Website/TheOnion [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100325205520/http://www.theonion.com/issue/3734/ also not only provided a spot-on "On TV Tonight"...]], but parodied this trope in a piece about the new "[[http://www.theonion.com/articles/network-programming-dominated-by-surreality-tv,3293/ surreality TV]]" genre spawned in the wake of the attack.)

** Cartoon Network has been showing a marathon of one of their shows at least once a week for this reason.

** On April 18, 2020, three of the Big Four networks are running the benefit special ''One World: Together at Home'', but Fox is not participating, having already broadcast the ''iHeart Living Room Concert for America'' weeks before. They ended up scheduling repeats of ''Series/NineOneOne'' and ''Creator/GordonRamsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back'' opposite ''One World''.
** Several children's networks made changes to their schedule as a result of the pandemic. Disney Channel and Nickelodeon had to adjust their schedules to account for the fact that most children had off from school thanks to the pandemic by ending their preschool blocks early, some episodes of the series they run that depicted sick characters were pulled, and some channels pulled out older programming, some of which hasn't been rerun in ''years'', to entertain viewers (for example, Creator/DisneyJunior began to re-run ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'')