Reliable agency sources report WJYE and Star were down Fall 08 to Fall 09, Mon-Sun, 6 am-Midnight: Persons 25-54, Women 25-54 and Women 35-64. Their performances run contrary to All Christmas ratings returns from NY and LA where stations put up substantial gains and topped the ratings. WJYE and Star remain dominant in Women, but not as strong as a year ago. Have WNY listeners, particularly women, tired of All Christmas music? Did businesses and offices turn off the All Christmas music stations? Was the early end of the Fall book to blame? Did the recession take its toll?
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All Christmas Music No Gift to WJYE or Star
- Thread starter Element9
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Bob1370
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The early end to the regular Fall book everywhere probably had a lot to do with it.
In big PPM markets, the regular fall book showed a moderate effect of the all-Santa format during the last two weeks of sampling, which included post-Thanksgiving holiday music on some stations. The numbers you're hearing about now, with drastic jumps in AQH 12+ for the dominant Christmas music stations in places like NYC and LA, were from a special Arbitron book covering the period from December 9, 2009 to January 6, 2010, which was compiled and reported only in PPM markets. The rest of the country, including Buffalo and Rochester, wasn't gathering ratings numbers at all during those four weeks. This special report was probably designed to give advertisers and broadcasters a real gauge of the impact of holiday music on those stations who program it. Hopefully for everyone's sanity, the strong results of a few stations won't cause everybody to jump on the holiday music bandwahon next year. But we should probably be a little afraid....
One more factor; in markets like NYC, one station became so totally identified with Christmas music that it got substantially all the action from people looking for that kind of music. Buffalo split the holiday music audience between a couple of stations, which then proceeded to cancel each other out and move the ratings needle back toward normal.
In big PPM markets, the regular fall book showed a moderate effect of the all-Santa format during the last two weeks of sampling, which included post-Thanksgiving holiday music on some stations. The numbers you're hearing about now, with drastic jumps in AQH 12+ for the dominant Christmas music stations in places like NYC and LA, were from a special Arbitron book covering the period from December 9, 2009 to January 6, 2010, which was compiled and reported only in PPM markets. The rest of the country, including Buffalo and Rochester, wasn't gathering ratings numbers at all during those four weeks. This special report was probably designed to give advertisers and broadcasters a real gauge of the impact of holiday music on those stations who program it. Hopefully for everyone's sanity, the strong results of a few stations won't cause everybody to jump on the holiday music bandwahon next year. But we should probably be a little afraid....
One more factor; in markets like NYC, one station became so totally identified with Christmas music that it got substantially all the action from people looking for that kind of music. Buffalo split the holiday music audience between a couple of stations, which then proceeded to cancel each other out and move the ratings needle back toward normal.
Speaking as a sample of one, I would place myself in the "tired of" category. I found the occassional song mixed in, as was done on Legends and with the "Fickle Flakes," to be preferable to "all Santa."
I didn't permit my iTunes to play any Chipmunks, et al until after Thanksgiving, either. The highest airplay in my own house was the "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack.
I didn't permit my iTunes to play any Chipmunks, et al until after Thanksgiving, either. The highest airplay in my own house was the "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack.
Amen to that. I mean, c'mon less is more. And when you're doing nothing but Christmas music, the quality of music gets really watered down. I hear Warm's All Christmas thing in stores and I mean, some of those songs are really awful.
What's even worse, is Warm still playing Christmas music on New Year's Day. Talk about anti-climatic - that's like having an Easter Egg hunt on Mother's Day - c'mon, give it a rest already.
cee said:
There is the "twelve days of Christmas" concept-- I stopped iTunes from playing holiday songs on January 6.
I seem to recall that in previous years, stations flipped back from all-Christmas at roughly 12:01AM on December 26. Now, not so much...
I seem to recall that in previous years, stations flipped back from all-Christmas at roughly 12:01AM on December 26. Now, not so much...
Convincing agruments, all. 
It could also be said and is probably closer to the truth, that Christmas music on STAR and JOY is so badly programmed that who can stand listening to an hour or two if it, let alone weeks and weeks and weeks of it, non-stop!
There are a few of us who know Christmas music ... what STAR and JOY don't get is that it ain't Christmas music just because the record label says it is. Christmas music is a specialty programming element, NOT a sponsor's 'bonus' for a large buy.
Properly programmed, it can make the listeners love it and the station ... and will please the sponsors because the holiday shoppers will respond by shopping with them.
'Win,Win,Win' for station, listeners and sponsors and the station maintains the programming product.
Programming Christmas music is an art and there are very few of us 'artists' left who can do it properly!
Kal
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It could also be said and is probably closer to the truth, that Christmas music on STAR and JOY is so badly programmed that who can stand listening to an hour or two if it, let alone weeks and weeks and weeks of it, non-stop!
There are a few of us who know Christmas music ... what STAR and JOY don't get is that it ain't Christmas music just because the record label says it is. Christmas music is a specialty programming element, NOT a sponsor's 'bonus' for a large buy.
Properly programmed, it can make the listeners love it and the station ... and will please the sponsors because the holiday shoppers will respond by shopping with them.
'Win,Win,Win' for station, listeners and sponsors and the station maintains the programming product.
Programming Christmas music is an art and there are very few of us 'artists' left who can do it properly!
Kal
~
Generally speaking, it usually matters very little which station you're tuned to, when wall-to-wall Christmas is the product. One of the ONLY exceptions I can think of would perhaps be country, or smooth jazz. The latter certainly has their OWN artists recording the same songs, but in their own destinctive style. When it comes to your local STAR or JOY i.e. - AC (light rock) you KNOW there's a 90% chance that you'll hear the SAME artists with the SAME songs on each station...over & over & over again. Correct?
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