diff --git a/src/plugin_system/testing/visual_display_manager.py b/src/plugin_system/testing/visual_display_manager.py
index 73d64f3cf..7f84a94e1 100644
--- a/src/plugin_system/testing/visual_display_manager.py
+++ b/src/plugin_system/testing/visual_display_manager.py
@@ -454,6 +454,18 @@ def is_currently_scrolling(self) -> bool:
         """Check if display is currently scrolling."""
         return self._scrolling_state['is_scrolling']
 
+    def process_deferred_updates(self):
+        """Process any deferred updates (no-op for testing).
+
+        Several ticker-style plugins (news, odds-ticker, leaderboard,
+        stock-news, stocks) call this unconditionally between
+        set_scrolling_state() and their scroll-position update, mirroring the
+        real display_manager's deferred-update queue. This double has no such
+        queue, so there is nothing to process — the no-op just lets those
+        plugins render under the harness instead of raising AttributeError.
+        """
+        pass
+
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Utility methods
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/test/plugins/test_visual_rendering.py b/test/plugins/test_visual_rendering.py
index 3bfffa577..0bb77d0ce 100644
--- a/test/plugins/test_visual_rendering.py
+++ b/test/plugins/test_visual_rendering.py
@@ -172,6 +172,16 @@ def test_scrolling_state(self):
         vdm.set_scrolling_state(False)
         assert vdm.is_currently_scrolling() is False
 
+    def test_process_deferred_updates_is_noop(self):
+        # Ticker-style plugins (news, odds-ticker, leaderboard, stock-news,
+        # stocks) call this unconditionally alongside set_scrolling_state();
+        # it must exist and be harmless so those plugins render under the
+        # harness instead of raising AttributeError.
+        vdm = VisualTestDisplayManager(width=128, height=32)
+        vdm.set_scrolling_state(True)
+        vdm.process_deferred_updates()  # should not raise
+        assert vdm.is_currently_scrolling() is True
+
     def test_format_date_with_ordinal(self):
         from datetime import datetime
         vdm = VisualTestDisplayManager(width=128, height=32)