95.3 WLKR from Norwalk is doing rock-based Christmas music with some non-mainstream alternative songs.
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Flip to Christmas Music
- Thread starter skiwest
- Start date
WMJI is planning to continue Christmas music until December 28th
I'm expecting WJMJ Hartford, CT, to do what it's done since I started listening to it: Christmas music right through the 12th day, Epiphany (Jan. 6). I wonder if there are any other stations, especially Catholic-affiliated noncommercials, that do the same.
Extended Christmas music? Highly unlikely, but it sounds like a format change is coming, as this seems like they need more time to get things ready.
To the #1 station in Cleveland? Really?
FYI WLTW NY is also continuing Christmas music until Sunday at midnight. It's also the #1 station. Also iHeart.
No way in hell will they be changing format. They're consistently #1 in ratings [at least the 6+ and I have a feeling pretty much in the more important demos] They may tweak it a bit with some "newer" oldies but probably not by much.
The last year Christmas fell on a Thursday before this year was 2014. Can anyone recall any stations retaining Christmas music through the weekend then? Since everything radio does in these desperate times for the industry is designed to save money in some way, what do stations save by not flipping back to their normal programming on Dec. 26? Do they go jockless right through Sunday? Do their Christmas advertisers remain on board even though Santa's come and gone, and return season begins today?
I guess this would be the "answer" song to "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"
And I can hear why this wasn't a hit.......
And I can hear why this wasn't a hit.......
There are older groups who like Christmas music to continue through December 31. Also, it allows stations to not to have to pay people to make shifts to their programming during that timeperiod. I'm also guessing that, unlike most other weeks of the year, the week between Christmas and New Year's behaves very much like weekends; that is, many advertisers are on holiday themselves and pay less attention to it. (Since I'm guessing on all of these fronts, perhaps I will be corrected.)
There is only one radio station that I know of for certain that is changing formats in the new year and that's KPKL in Spokane whose former owner is moving the oldies format down the dial to the noncommercial 89.5 frequency come January 1.
In addition, there is one station that I suspect will be making a format change come January 1 and that's KLO 103.1 mHz in Ogden, Utah. Here, the issue isn't that the Christmas format isn't being stretched to December 31 as much as the format that the station before the October Christmas flip: alternative. The early Christmas flip and the regular format of alternative (alternative music stations almost never flip to Christmas music) makes me think that KLO will be doing a new format in January. But, I have *absolutely* no knowledge about what is happening at KLO, meaning that I could very well be wrong here, too.
All four stations that flipped and can be heard here in the White River Junction, VT, area, are back to normal programming today: WCNL Newport, NH, to classic country, and WEZF Burlington, VT, WJJR Rutland, VT and WHOM Mount Washington, NH, to Adult Contemporary. No Audacy or iHeart stations in this part of New England, so we've heard the last of Frosty and Grandma and Mariah for another year.
Looks like 'QGR staying the course
Gold 93.7 WQGR | Mentor OH
Gold 93.7 WQGR, Mentor. 298 likes · 272 talking about this. Broadcasting from Mentor, OH, serving Lake, Ashtabula and Geauga counties, playing FUN Music of the 60's & 70's, and Beyond!
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I doubt it - 93.3 The Bus down here in Columbus is still running their iHeart Christmas log too. You don't realize how iHeart works - if they truly wanted to change formats on WMJI they would already have it ready and launched. Cleary iHeart has a strategy with some of their Christmas stations this year to run them into the weekend given Christmas fell on Thursday this year.
A huge, almost total number of agency accounts end with Christmas. Unless retailers have a post-Christmas sale, it's not until well into January that those accounts come back, slowly.
Local direct also tends to not advertise between Christmas and the first week of January or so. People are "spent out" and not anxious to go spend more money.
So you assumption is significantly correct. Yes, a number of long-term contract advertisers are there every day of every week, but those accounts are fewer and fewer now.
Was in rotation on CLE Oldies. Kink's "Father Christmas", too.
Lots of Christmas standards, oldies, parodies, and even Alabama's "Christmas in Dixie".
Lon Chaney Jr's "Monsters Holiday"? Check! Snoopy's Christmas? Check! Grandma Got Run Over? As much as I don't care for it, check! 12 Pains of Xmas? Check! Cheech and Chong? Check! Stan Freberg's "Christmas Dragnet"? Check! Euclid Beach Band's "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree"? Check!
What about "Monster's Holiday" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, which was the original follow up single to his mega-monster hit, "Monster Mash"?
Christmas is over, when iHeart says it over, and by the looks of it.... it's over!
Yes. IHeart stations playing Christmas music returned to normal programming at midnight local time on Monday, December 29, 2025. What will be interesting is if the company decides to do the same next year with its Christmas music stations. And that, of course, will depend on how well these stations performed playing Christmas music after December 25 this year.
Let's suppose for a moment that the numbers showed that the company should do the same next year, i.e. playing Christmas music until midnight of Monday morning following Christmas Day. It turns out that when you do the math, each year contains absolutely 52 weeks plus one day with the exception of leap years when the number of days added is two. This means that in 2026, Christmas will fall on a Friday so only two days of post-Christmas Day music will be available to IHeart. In 2027, Christmas will fall on a Saturday so that only one day of post-Christmas music would be available to the company.
And that brings us to 2028 which is a leap year, meaning Christmas Day will fall on Monday. In that year, if IHeart followed the same schedule as it did this year, then Christmas music will be playing on its Christmas stations until midnight on New Year's Day which is, exactly 7 days following Christmas Day that year. It will be interesting for those of us who are still alive on January 1 of 2029 to see if that is what IHeart (assuming it's still around) does.