What about ratings? Are pranks a direct result of trying to win a ratings war? Not necessarily. "I don't think there's a correlation," Nienaber said. DJs would devise pranks regardless, he says. "At the end of the day, it's just fun."

But like every medium these days, radio is changing. Will the Aussie DJ's scandal leave a permanent mark? Will your favorite morning DJs change their tune in the aftermath of the tragedy?

"I don't think radio pranks will ever go away as long as there are 'funny' morning shows," said Lee Abrams, an industry pioneer and consultant who's legendary in the business. "The Australian prank was a fluke ... though the hosts and their employers will probably think twice" in the future "and that's probably a good thing."

Phone pranks like the one in Australia have become "old and boring" Kelly said. Much of radio's fun with pranks has roots in the 1950s with shows like "Candid Camera" and in the '80s with Scott Shannon's "Morning Zoo" at New York's Z100.

"I think it was something that was happening more in the '80s and '90s," said Jim Denny, morning co-host at Indianapolis' WFMS. "I think you hear more mean stuff on the sports radio and news-talk stations, where they're beating up on the listeners sometimes."

Pranks and stunts appear to be moving from radio to reality TV, Kelly said, leaving radio with a few basic formats that he calls "shut-up-and-play-the music"; "I-hate-Obama-I-love-Obama" aka talk radio; or an "ensemble of human interaction with Morning Zoo-like overtones, without the snarkyness."

If radio ends up becoming more predictable as a result of the controversy, it will disappoint many broadcasters as well as listeners. It's radio's unpredictability, they say, that makes it great.

"Anything can happen," Nienaber said. "But should this stop us from doing everything? No."