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11/12 or 11/19?
- Thread starter DrAkbar
- Start date
A desire to pump up cume before the Holiday book begins?
I'm pretty burned out on Christmas music, but if it means we're that much closer to the end of this dumpster fire of a year, then cue up Mariah Carey again and hit repeat.
The problem is that nobody buys from the Holiday book. By the time it is out, the season is over. When the next year rolls around, it can be used as an indicator, but no agency is going to do strict CPP buys off year-old data.
My guess is that they are going after local retail business (whether chain stores or not) very hard to try to recover some lost revenue. This is the kind of concept that can be sold more easily on the phone than almost anything else and with few in-person calls, this may be seen strictly from the revenue side.
I'm a confirmed, card-carrying misanthrope so it won't help me!
Just hope it's not full when you get it.YIKES!!!
We'll check to be sure it's not from the stock we use for listening to Dave Ramsey. Regurgitated beans n rice aint a pretty sight!
Some artist is going to head down to their home studio and sing a Covid-19 Christmas song. I just know it. And then stations like KEZ will run it every 3-5 hours. Something to do with masks, social distancing, Zoom, or everyone's favorite slogan, 'we're all in this together.'
Not surprised they go Xmas on 11/6. I think about 50 to 100 other stations will follow between Nov 4th at midnight and Nov 6th. This will be a very early and long holiday format IMO. After all, this is a trainwreck of a year with the virus shutdowns and economic effects, the crazy and divisive political environment, and the riots following the George Floyd incident. Louisville 106.9 already flipped and so did a station in Lexington!
If a Burl Ives classic from 1964 helps us all, maybe we need it.
Not surprised they go Xmas on 11/6. I think about 50 to 100 other stations will follow between Nov 4th at midnight and Nov 6th. This will be a very early and long holiday format IMO. After all, this is a trainwreck of a year with the virus shutdowns and economic effects, the crazy and divisive political environment, and the riots following the George Floyd incident. Louisville 106.9 already flipped and so did a station in Lexington!
If a Burl Ives classic from 1964 helps us all, maybe we need it.
And then there is this from the Republic from 7 December 1996:
"KEZ (KESZ 99.9 FM) plays songs of the season from 5 PM to 5 AM weekdays and all weekend."
Under GM Gerry Ryan, this is supposedly the first all Rudolf station... but it was not until after Thanksgiving that they started.
"KEZ (KESZ 99.9 FM) plays songs of the season from 5 PM to 5 AM weekdays and all weekend."
Under GM Gerry Ryan, this is supposedly the first all Rudolf station... but it was not until after Thanksgiving that they started.
Right. So what they've done the last few years is start a couple of weeks before the holiday book begins to give the last monthly before Holiday a boost.
I was hired by Jerry right before Thanksgiving that year when I was between gigs. The first task I was assigned at KEZ was dub Christmas jingles as we prepared to make the flip at PV Mall on Black Friday.
Here's who did all Christmas after Thanksgiving in Phoenix before KEZ:
1. KMEO-AM. After the FM shifted to AC, they kept running the B/EZ tapes on the AM, and they decided to do the Christmas stunt first. It got them more cume than they'd get any other time of the year. I don't remember the year.
2. After that station was sold to Childrens Satellite Network (Radio Aahs), Gary Edens told me that KOY got calls asking if they would take over the tradition. He decided it was worth doing and started doing it. When I got to KOY when Sundance bought it, Gary laid out the traditions they had started (Handel's Messiah at midnight on Christmas was a big one, and you must play Boney M "Mary's Boy Child" often) and asked me to carry them on. We did, using the music library that sister station WOKY Milwaukee had (who also did all Christmas at Thanksgiving; to keep Edens and Jorgenson happy I had to combine what KOY and WOKY did the first year. As part of the sale, Gary served as President of the cluster while he served his non-compete.)
3. When KTWC signed on to go up against KOY with Twice The Trainwrecks, KTWC copied KOY's all-Christmas stunt. This was the only time KTWC ever showed up in the ratings. So they did this every year that Don Jerome operated the station. MAC America had an option to buy KTWC as part of their Shared Services Agreement. Basically, the day that the FCC would allow Jerome to sell the Docket 80/90 KTWC to KTVK, they did. KTWC became Smooth Jazz KOAZ.
4. That Thanksgiving (which would be 1996) Jerry Ryan decided that if little old Twice 103.5 could get numbers playing Christmas music, then imagine what they could do if they put it on the big dog? Answer: it was huge.
5. After MAC America sold KEZ to Clear Channel, they found out what Jerry had done and decided that it was worth doing everywhere.
So, while Jerry wasn't the first in the market, he was the first to do it on a major FM and took on the risk that comes with it. He deserves the credit.
Good history and things I did not know. Jerry and I were both some kind of VPs at HBC and Univision, and we shared lots of stories. Mine about radio, his mostly about horses and rodeo. He did miracles for the HBC stations in Chicago!
Best GM I've ever worked for, hands down. He knew how to lead.
And he is now running a very successful commercial real estate brokerage and investment firm in San Diego. He also knew when to get out of radio!
Mark my words...stations that never flip this early will be flipping at midnight, the morning after the election. With 2020 being one of the worst years in modern history, the holiday cheer (and especially traditional religious songs IMO) is needed.
...with or without Prop 207!
Somehow I think this election will run into the weeks and not just election night.
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