Why Is a Radio Station Playing ‘Hot in Herre’ on an Endless Loop?
For more than 20 hours now, San Francisco radio station KVVF 105.7 has been playing one song, and one song only. Starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, the station has devoted all its air time to an endless loop of Nelly‘s “Hot in Herre.”
See Where ‘Hot in Herre’ Ranks Among the Best Summer Songs of All Time
As the loop stretched on into the night, speculation bubbled up on Twitter under the hastag #Nelly1057, with some listeners wondering if the station was experiencing technical trouble, if a DJ had just quit or even if the broadcast had been hijacked. But an answer to the mystery has emerged. According to RadioInsight, the Nelly loop was unleashed to herald a relaunch of the station. Univision-owned Latino Mix 105.7 is switching formats to an English-language contemporary rhythmic brand, Hot 105.7.
This type of publicity move, known as “stunting,” is occasionally put into practice when stations launch or switch formats. In July, a new Toronto radio station, Indie88, tested out its long-dormant FM signal by playing Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” for a full week.
The new station has already set up a Facebook page. Its first posting was a YouTube video for the Nelly song, along with the caption, “You feeling Hot?” The station will presumably begin playing songs other than “Hot in Herre” sometime in the near future.