As the title says, are any of the local stations changing to a Christmas format this season? I know that usually Mix 92.9 and The Fish do it, although I can't remember if Mix did last year. I wish a country station would do it as The Big 98 did a few years ago *blushes*. I'm probably the only one here who enjoys it when the stations flip. I would be curious to know why Nashville doesn't rush into it as other cities do. I'm glad they don't, as I believe the Christmas songs should come out after Thanksgiving or at the least a few days before, but it does make me wonder why Nashville stations don't beat us over the head with the same overplayed songs at the beginning of November as some other areas do.
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Is any Nashville station flipping to Christmas this year?
- Thread starter oldiesgirl
- Start date
Way FM has mixed in Christmas music, but has not gone all Christmas yet.
A friend at church said she has heard some on Way FM and also the Fish. I'd say they could get away with it more than the other channels as the songs they play are about Jesus anyway.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
It was funny to me, I "think" it was last year, but on WJXA/Mix 92.9 Facebook Page, there were many complaints about all Christmas Music on the station and why can't they stick to their regular AC Format and mix in the Christmas Music. I didn't pay that much to all the grips, and I don't like Facebook. Anyhow they were all Christmas until 12 midnight, December 26, then WJXA went back to AC.
In many markets, many of the major AC Stations go all Christmas Music on Thanksgiving Day or Thanksgiving Night. The name of the game is merchandising. If it makes money, then do it. In the history of 92.9 Nashville, they have gone all Christmas Music every year since the station signed on in the mid 70s as WZEZ.
Personally, I don't like any Christmas Music. Same old thing, year after year. Thank God we have On Line Radio, and I have it in my car.
In many markets, many of the major AC Stations go all Christmas Music on Thanksgiving Day or Thanksgiving Night. The name of the game is merchandising. If it makes money, then do it. In the history of 92.9 Nashville, they have gone all Christmas Music every year since the station signed on in the mid 70s as WZEZ.
Personally, I don't like any Christmas Music. Same old thing, year after year. Thank God we have On Line Radio, and I have it in my car.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
We'll that is what the Christmas Holiday is really about, the birth of Jesus Christ. I think in the Nashville Market, the only three FM Stations that don't play Christmas Music is 102.9 The Buzz, The Rock at 105.9, and 96.3 Jack. Their audience in my opinion could careless about Christmas anyhow. Over the years, WLAC drops it's news/talk format for all Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I call it the only day & time the Liberals can listen to WLAC (HA!)
The Fish(es) and Mix are the only stations usually going full-time Christmas music each year. Mix flips today at noon. It is interesting that a few years ago, the trend was to be the first to flip. WMJJ, in Birmingham, seems like it flips after Halloween. I think the "me first" hype has thankfully calmed down nationwide. It is interesting to see the results. Mix usually is in the low to mid teens, and has led the nation in best ratings with the switch. I appreciate the flip happening at Thanksgiving at Mix vs. Mid-fall. Maybe someone else will jump into the fray, but seems like everyone is staying the course and no flips will come out of the holiday season.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
Yea, I heard about WMJJ doing that. My Theory is that their salespeople went and sold Holiday advertising packages, way in advance. They wanted to beat everyone in that market for the old mighty dollar!
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
I'm listening to WVOL-AM 1470 On Line right now. R&B Oldies. An escape from that Christmas Music!
I have to admit that I did not even know WVOL was still R&B. Will have to check that out for sure! Rebel, are you a regular listener to Mix when it's AC? Interesting that a female leaning format is usually also tops in the market for male listeners, without really even trying. As for WMJJ, I have said it before, but that signal is cursed down in B-ham. Literally, it's never played any music that I could enjoy. Just way to lite. They even had (and may still have) Disco on Saturday nights. That probably has changed and they are more like Mix these days. Then again, I ain't their primary listener.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
WVOL is R&B Oldies (Automated) during the week. Sometimes in the middle of the day, John Heildeburg does a talk show on there from 12PM-3PM. I listen to WVOL On Line, Terrestrial Radio (as we know it, the AM & FM Bands) are fading away. The dashboards are changing in cars. The down fall of On Line Radio is if you loose the Internet Connect, but it will become more stable in the next 5 years. On Saturdays, WVOL is all "Blues" Music.
WJXA has had some big success with the AC Format, they can recover on December 26th every year with no problem. I haven't listen to WMJJ in a long time, so I don't know what they are doing.
WJXA has had some big success with the AC Format, they can recover on December 26th every year with no problem. I haven't listen to WMJJ in a long time, so I don't know what they are doing.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
While it's on my mind, and this is what Firepoint can not understand, today's terrestrial radio is about the bottom line. Making some kind of profit by cutting the number of staff, airing programming that makes them money. Cumulus and Clear Channel are good example of it. You can have all the listeners in the world, but when it comes down to that book and numbers, that what ad agencies look at, like the Buntin Group, that handles advertising for the TN Lottery and Krogers. They don't care if a small, very small minority of the people that post on these boards like it or not, they are going to do what needs to be done to keep the business going, and the ones that report to investors on Wall Street, they better show a profit.
Just because a station is gearing it's format to females doesn't mean that a vast majority of males won't listen. Simply untrue. People like Firepoint don't understand the business model of today, if with these small "mom and pop" stations. This is all politics.
Just because a station is gearing it's format to females doesn't mean that a vast majority of males won't listen. Simply untrue. People like Firepoint don't understand the business model of today, if with these small "mom and pop" stations. This is all politics.
hey Rebel - If this is you, and you have owned a radio station ever, etc. (being discreet) - glad you are back on here and hope you are doing well. I had worried I had upset you a while back, with my goofy attempts at humor, but didnt mean anything mean by it. Let me know if it's you on the private message or something. And for what it's worth, Firepoint and you both would like and understand each other, so don't let a bad start bug either of you, ok? I haven't even thought about Bill Buntin in many years. May have to reach out to him. As for Mix - it's an amazing station - no matter what anyone says, it has indeed managed to mix the hits of today with yesterday's music in a way that shouldn't make sense, but it does. In a big way. Haven't listened to VOL but will.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
To answer your question(s), the answer is No. I don't know who this Buntin guy is your talking about. All I know is that Mix 92.9 has done Christmas Music for years, since it signed on in 1976 as WZEZ, Easy 93. I guess it makes them money, and they recover quickly after December 25. If they had a hard recovery in the first quarter in sales after the Christmas Music was long gone, they would have dropped it years ago.
I just know many people and I told the administrator I would not mock Firepoint, but if he is wrong, then bring up the true fact. Firepoint's problem is he tries to dictate what every station in the market should be doing. Also caries on a lot misunderstandings about the truth. Apparently, he doesn't have the money to buy into a simple AM daytime only station to program it how he wants, so I ponder why he is here complaining.
Not to be getting off topic here, I guess the Mexican Bunch failed to pay the bill to have their programs on 1200 WAMB. Mrs. James just has it on with the audio of WANT-FM 98.9. The FCC Rule is the station must be on at least a minimum hours a day, or it is considered dark. I guess she is looking for somebody to lease it. If people wanted that Adult Standards Format back on, then it's going to take quite a bit of money to do it, pay the bills and employees. I was aware of this until I heard it in the car today. In this day and time, I have no clue what can go on 1200 (besides 50's,60's, some early 70s, Oldies format) that could just break even. Oldies of the 50s & 70s are just about gone because the people that listen to them are dying or dead. The graveyard is not going to make any money.
I just know many people and I told the administrator I would not mock Firepoint, but if he is wrong, then bring up the true fact. Firepoint's problem is he tries to dictate what every station in the market should be doing. Also caries on a lot misunderstandings about the truth. Apparently, he doesn't have the money to buy into a simple AM daytime only station to program it how he wants, so I ponder why he is here complaining.
Not to be getting off topic here, I guess the Mexican Bunch failed to pay the bill to have their programs on 1200 WAMB. Mrs. James just has it on with the audio of WANT-FM 98.9. The FCC Rule is the station must be on at least a minimum hours a day, or it is considered dark. I guess she is looking for somebody to lease it. If people wanted that Adult Standards Format back on, then it's going to take quite a bit of money to do it, pay the bills and employees. I was aware of this until I heard it in the car today. In this day and time, I have no clue what can go on 1200 (besides 50's,60's, some early 70s, Oldies format) that could just break even. Oldies of the 50s & 70s are just about gone because the people that listen to them are dying or dead. The graveyard is not going to make any money.
Completely off topic for this thread, but I completely disagree that 50s and 60s listeners are dying off. It is true that the people who were young during this period are aging, but the music has been preserved on radio and in movies for a long time, and there are a lot of people who love it who may have been exposed to it through their parents or grandparents or just by hearing it on the radio, and they would happily listen to a 50s/60s oldies station if it were available. I'm one of those people. I'm 28 years old, but apparently I didn't get the memo that said I was only allowed to like music that the radio execs determined was part of my demographic. Actually I loathe most of what is coming out today and much prefer older music and just generally music where people actually know how to play. Sorry for the rant, but this just bugs me.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
You have a valid point. If you are in your 20s and like that era of music, that's fine. What I am telling you is what the Media Consultants say in the trade magazines. When it boils down to an individual, it doesn't matter what you like. Heck, I like songs that were hits before I was born, going back to the 30s. I'll say this, you won't hear 50s/60s Oldies much on FM Radio anymore, but that is where On Line Radio takes over. AM stations will be what they are going to be, mostly talk and paid religion. It works for them and makes them money.
In this market, there is Hippie 94.5, and they come to the very near that demographic, but it doesn't have a strong signal to cover the market because of WGSQ-FM 94.7 out of Cookeville. Yea, there have been rumors that the group that owns Hippie 94.5 wants to buy the 94.7 signal, but that's not going to happen because the owners of 94.7 "The Country Giant" are doing good finically, and yes it does have a ton of listeners out of the Nashville, Eight County Market. I don't know of any AM Stations playing 50s/60s music anymore in this market.
As time moves forward, the 60s Pop Music on Terrestrial Radio is going to fade out. Right now, Classic Hit Stations put emphasis on 70s & 80s hits. Look what year we are going into, 2015! The people who liked the music Bill Barry had on 1200 WAMB are mostly dead or dying, or in a nursing home. Bill himself is gone. That is just how life works. "Real Oldies" will not return to Terrestrial Radio in Nashville, period. It's time to move on to Internet Radio. The dashboard are/have changed in the new cars. BMW removed the CD Players and AM Radio out of their new models.
In conclusion, I understand your feelings, but you being just 28, your a small minority in the masses. I suggest getting a FM Car Transmitter, use your smartphone, find a On Line Station that plays what you want, and in the car tune it to a place on FM where there is not much interference and listen to that decade of music because that is where it has gone. Your young enough to understand how to do it. You're way younger than me!
Well I don't drive as I'm very nearly totally blind, but internet radio is definitely my friend. Since I'm an oddball musically, terrestrial radio left me in the cold a long time ago. I had XM, but had to let it go due to financial reasons. I'd like to get it again, and maybe within the next few months I will, but right now I listen to radio on the internet. Oh and I see what you did there with my signature quote, and yes I'm still a bit bitter about Jak FM. Well bitter is a strong word, but I still think of them as the station that took over Oldies 96.3 and don't like to listen to them.
R
Rebel Rouser
Guest
I am very sorry that you can't see well. We'll it's getting close to 10 years since 96.3 became Jack FM. If it's working for them, financially, it's here to stay for a bit while longer. I remember when 101.1 "The Beat Jams", was all Jazz. The Jazz format on 101.1 had many listeners, but the sales staff complained they could sell the format. This is when today's Rock at 105.9 was Adult Contemporary, WLAC-FM 106. The sales staff tried to sell ad packages with ads on both 101.1 and 105.9. They couldn't do it, so the owners gave up and here comes Clear Channel to set up the formats they have today on 101.1 and 105.9.
I tell people, today it's about money, not listeners, as far as terrestrial radio is concerned. You're on the right path. On Line Radio is the way to go, with thousands of streams, and you can find what you like.
How long has The Rock been here? I went to school in Nashville from 1991 to 1993 and listened to WLAC, but don't remember them being here when I moved back in 1995, maybe because once I discovered Oldies 96.3 and WSM I didn't flip around. I remember very clearly when 101 went hiphop. At first they switched from jazz to Christian, and then they changed to rap. I was ticked off because a gospel station was playing rap.
Yes it's definitely about the money and not about the listeners, and this is why I say terrestrial radio sucks. Is it okay to say that word here?
Yes it's definitely about the money and not about the listeners, and this is why I say terrestrial radio sucks. Is it okay to say that word here?
It's always been about the money. That's business in general, but it doesn't mean you can't have a heart or have fun, although it seems to have become a crime to have either in American business in 2014. Don't get me started on that. WLAC flipped to rock in 1998. Hippie would like to buy anything and anybody who wants to sell anything at a reasonable price, as would most radio station owners that haven't maxed the limits. Well, maybe that's a bit of overstatement on anyone really wanting to buy radio in general. But, Rebel, it wouldn't make much sense to buy The Country Giant in Cookevegas as the signal fades in the Eastern density area of Davidson and Wilson. Cookeville would basically have to be a separate sales territory if Hippie bought it from the Zimmers, and the smart move would be not to flip from the successful country format. The smart play would be to ask WGSQ to lower their power and allow Hipster to increase coverage, but still it's not much of an increase that could happen if WGSQ downsized. Still gotta protect adjacent frequency and moving Hippie farther east takes it out of the original Lobelville west signal coverage.
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