Am I crazy or.......

[Wind]

Mix is the top music station right? And not all people like Christmas music 24/7 right? People are looking for a station to play what mix was playing Sooooo wouldnt this be the time for a station to flip to AC?

 

[roadrunner]

No, it makes perfect sense. Or at least it should. The problem (or reality) is that most of Mix's listeners just "love" their Christmas music (not me) and those who don't will go right straight back to Mix after the holidays just out of habit. I'm not speaking for myself ..the only time I listen to Mix (during normal times) is when Jack or one of the others is playing something I don't like. With THREE country FM's, seems like maybe ONE of them would at least make an attempt to compete with 92.9 ---but that's probably never gonna happen.

 

[the marv]

I wouldn't see Clear Channel flipping WSIX but since Cumulus owns both WSM FM and WKDF I could see one of them switch. Then again some companies due tend to run more than 1 country station in the market.

 

[NashvilleNative]

WSM or KDF both would have a great SHOCK factor of flipping, so everyone would know about it, compared to if 97.1 changed again. KDF is putting up a great fight against 98 for #1 (and winning some) and WSM has some momentum and sounds the best in town in my opinion with their 90's to now format and promotion of the call letters. Sure it makes sense for one to flip, but you know the saying, "if it aint broke, don't fix it." If one was to flip, what's to keep all the listeners to going to 98 instead of the other cumulus station? Plus, many country listeners listen to ALL 3 FM country stations as is.

...and it all comes back to Star97. I think Mix anticipated Star to pickup oldies. Good short term move for Cumulus, but where would Star 97 be today? Where were the ads last week? "Not ready for Christmas music? Celebrate Thanksgiving with (insert new AC station here)."


I guess I'll just enjoy 1560 WMRO while I can (seriously, other than WHOP, that's the ONLY AC station with decent reception NE of town, be it AM). I like 105.3 out of Glasgow that I can get at my house, but not on the road.

 

[firepoint525]

I listened to V-102.5 (back in their hot AC days) a bit more during the holiday season when mix 92.9 went all-Chri$tma$ on us. I have been known to change my listening habits during the holidays and not necessarily change back after the holiday season is over!

 

[K4WRF]

I would resist the urge to over-think or attempt to apply too much common sense in the midst of all this format speculation!

 

[jetfli]

WSM or KDF both would have a great SHOCK factor of flipping, so everyone would know about it, compared to if 97.1 changed again. ...where would Star 97 be today? Where were the ads last week? "Not ready for Christmas music? Celebrate Thanksgiving with (insert new AC station here)."

When was the last time you knew of a radio station that went to great lengths to draw in listeners post-flip? Once upon a time there were excellent promotions in which stations would promote making "The Big Switch" with liners like "Now that we've flipped the Big Switch, you can too! Be the sixth caller to tell us why you've made the Big Switch to the New [whatever] and you'll win [whatever]." Then they'd put the caller live on the air and they'd let them carry on about why they just love the new station, then the DJ would make jokes about the other station and its identity and tell why the new station is so much better. Today, no one does that anymore. There's just this big build up to the new format, then it's all over, and the station goes about its business like it's 3 years old rather than 3 days old.

By the way, for all you young'uns, it's believed that the term "flip" as used to describe a format change, likely came about because of all the stations that promoted they "flipped the Big Switch" to describe their format changes back in the '60s and '70s. And now you know, as a true radio legend put it, the rest of the story.

 

[jharmon]

I would resist the urge to over-think or attempt to apply too much common sense in the midst of all this format speculation!

What he said!
I cant see how it matters at all what they do.
Want AC music? Pandora!

 

[Journeyman]

Want AC music? Pandora!

I do not see how any music station can hope to survive. I guarantee they will eventually play a song I can't stand. My I-Pod will not. Game. Set. Point.

 

[Duncan Park]

I think I can explain the All Christmas Phenom with a recent experience: Mrs. Park has had several rounds of dental surgery which required my services as chauffeur to and from the dentist in a neighboring county. It also required my sitting in the waiting room for long periods of time over the course of four weekly visits starting in early November. On the first three visits we waiters were entertained by CNN/Weather Channel/ESPN etc on the waiting room television. This last visit we were serenaded by the local radio station that had switched to all Christmas. This was maddening after only an hour. I decided to go grab a quick lunch at a local eatery. They too were playing the same "All Christmas" station in store as I presume were many others in the area. These all Christmas stations are banking on in store and at work listening - even if it's a captive audience in the dentists office/restaurant/retail store.

 

[firepoint525]

The Arby's in Bellevue used to have Mix on all the time (including even at Christmas time in years past), but last time I was in there, they had 'KDF on. Not everyone is into Chri$tma$ mu$ic! :

 

[jason99]

Looking at KDF's playlist I don't think they have played any Christmas Music. I can't stand to listen to that station. They have to talk after almost every song they play. And the afternoon guy reminds me of motor mouth from micromachines. I enjoy WSIX and they have been mixing in one Christmas song an hour maybe they will increase that a little next week. Also I enjoy Amy Page on there. And she doesn't talk after almost every song.

 

[DToTheJ]

There was an Amy Page that used to be heard in the Northeast on stations such as 107.1 FM in Westchester - could be one and the same...

The Arby's in Bellevue used to have Mix on all the time... but last time I was in there, they had 'KDF on...

Makes sense. Doesn't Arby's logo have a giant cowboy hat in it?

 

[secondchoice]

Makes sense. Doesn't Arby's logo have a giant cowboy hat in it?

Three or four owners ago. This company's owners is kind of like some radio properties. I personally know several folks that work at the Atlanta Headquarters. Between the holding company, the securities / stock trader, becoming a "holding company" again to buy Wendy's then sold by the holding company (to help pay for Wendy's no matter what the press releases say), the workers never know who will come or go next. I almost forgot the "reorganization" in the 1970's or early 80's.

 

[Rocky2539]

The Christmas music "phenomenon" is no more complicated than this: it works. Christmas is the ultimate mass-appeal format that cuts across all demos. Christmas music is some of the most memorable music we have. Think about it: when you were growing up, you only heard those songs a couple of weeks a year. But you know the words and you recognize the tunes instantly. Even the ones that aren't your favorites, even the ones that you don't like. It's powerful stuff. Ratings-wise, it works best for stations that sit sort of in the middle, demo-wise: ACs and Countrys and Oldies. No coincidence that the artists in those formats have recorded the most Christmas songs - it sells and it gets played. The formats on the fringe, demo-wise, not so much.