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Any christmas music signals in the area??

H

hangman

Just curious, are there any Christmas music formats that can be picked up in the Philadelphia area? I cannot receive any, either on T or HD sides. This is strange, it seems this area is starting Christmas music later every year. Only a few years back, there was Christmas music on 97.5 HD-2, 95.7 HD-2, 101.1 HD-2 plus the main signals, starting in mid October, and we all know the Sunny formula way back when, they started very early. This might be the dwindeling Christian population in the area, being replaced by non-Christian peoples, I really do not know whats the deal. It seems this area has been without Christmas music until after Thanksgiving the last few years, when most other cities and localities have at least one station going by Halloween, here there is nothing. Even the Apple has one on HD-2, since Halloween, what gives, why can't somebody put the music on their HD's it would be so much better than what they are doing now. MMR's HD-2 has been silent the last few weeks, put it on there..I have been listening to WWDE on the net the last month, great playlist, this is what we need about now...

fresh.jpg ..................wwde.jpg
 
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Perhaps B101 should take a hint from b98.5 in Atlanta and skip the all christmas music and just play normal tunes B98.5 did this and they still came out on top of the ratings If you are going to play it do it Part time from 7pm-12am then at midnight go back to normal music
 
Perhaps they could stay at or close to their general position, but when you see the numbers they score by changing...there's no business case for not making it. (And this from someone who would much rather hear a "mixed" approach...but clearly the numbers point in another direction.)
 
Rolling around the AM dial I noticed that WDAS-AM aka "Smooth Jazz JJZ" is dropping in smooth jazz and classic versions of holiday tunes in between their regular fare. Also available online and on 106.1 HD-2!

I read about another AC station doing this somewhere else in the country and IMHO it makes much more sense than just dropping a regular format cold turkey and going ALL-Christmas. B or JBR or even Ben could be doing this leading up to, say, Thanksgiving, and from that day on go 24/7. It would make the transition easier.
 
WSOX 96.1, a station my wife listens to from York, PA has already started playing Christmas Music.
 
I enjoy 101.3 2WD's Christmas music variety. Q105 is also great. Also like Oldies 93.3 from Columbus. 95.9 WGRQ has a big library and they don't play any newer songs. 104.7 K-Jewel also leans heavily on the Adult Standards.
I have several days worth of Sunny 104.5 airchecks from 10 years ago. Glad I had the foresight back then to record those airchecks.

I must be obsessed with Christmas music considering I listen to those stations from all over the country
 
2008 was an amazing holiday season in Philadelphia for fans of Christmas music. 97.5, 98.1, 99.5, 101.1, and 1360(?) were all doing it 24x7. There were a couple ensuing years, IIRC, where 101.1 and 97.5 (or 95.7) put all-Christmas on their HD-2's around October 15 or October 20. But the only stations doing it on the main terrestrial signal were 99.5 and 101.1.

I don't think GM put it on any of their HD-2's last year. I have no idea why they stopped. After Sunny 104.5's demise, no one has come close to putting together such a great Christmas library until GM built one for Now 97.5. Plus, anything that brings attention to HD can't hurt.

It seems there's a gentlemen's agreement of sorts by which 101.1 and out-of-town 99.5 flip on the same day. (I think typically the day before Thanksgiving, right?) These days, there's no competition so B101 will go as late as they can while still reaping the rewards. They do feel a need to "protect the franchise" so if 95.7, 98.1, or 106.1 were to flip right now, there's no way 101.1 would wait until 11/27.

I like knowing that there's a station in town doing all-Christmas (it somehow makes Christmastime feel official) but I don't really listen to them anyway. Like I said, all we have around here is 99.5 and 101.1. For my taste, there are too many tune-out songs in 101.1's library...and 99.5's playlist is borderline bizarre. I can't listen to them do the format for more than 15 minutes. Sad.

But it's all good. I've got my iPod and Google Play to keep me warm.
 
nkd said:
I enjoy 101.3 2WD's Christmas music variety. Q105 is also great. Also like Oldies 93.3 from Columbus. 95.9 WGRQ has a big library and they don't play any newer songs. 104.7 K-Jewel also leans heavily on the Adult Standards.
I have several days worth of Sunny 104.5 airchecks from 10 years ago. Glad I had the foresight back then to record those airchecks.

I must be obsessed with Christmas music considering I listen to those stations from all over the country
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I hear ya, I listen to Christmas music all year round when I am in the mood, from lounging on the beach in summer with 90 degree temps to spring and fall. 101.3 has a great variety, I have to try the other stations you mentioned do they stream. I do prefer the older Christmas and Standard Christmas tunes the best. I also tune into AOL music they have over 20 Holiday formats all year long.
 
Yes, they all stream. I plan to drive to Florida soon, and I think I'll listen to Christmas music the entire drive down, if there are enough all-Christmas stations along the way. I plan to drive an extra 50 miles and skip I-95, taking route 13 through the Delmarva and Norfolk. Just so I can hear 101.3 2wd.
 
101.3s playlist can go deep because its not owned by Clear channel
I cant listen to B101.s christmas music that playlist seems like its all over the place i am hopeful WOGL does its Christmas music once more
 
They do go much deeper than other stations I have sampled this year, I tried at least 30 from the Long Island Rocker thats going to flip to the AM Standards station in Milwaukee. Yesterday I heard Karla Bonoff, The First Noel, and Wynonna, Ava Marie on 101.3, I have not heard these two gems since Sunny's Christmas days :). The B wont touch them...here are a few pics of their 50kw flamethrower...

wwde.jpgwwde1.jpg
 
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B101 Has Flipped to Christmas Music

According to RadioInsight and B101's website, they have pulled the switch to Christmas music. Similar time to last year, though I would have preferred it to start Thanksgiving Day. They have their Christmas survey like every year, so yeah, B101 is now Christmas music.

Will any stations (non-HD subchannels) compete with WBEB this year?
 
FYI: WBEN-101.1 took the plunge around 3 P.M. EST today (November 21st).

WJBR-99.5 in nearby Wilmington, Delaware might also flip, but at this writing (5:30 P.M. EST November 21st), they haven't as of yet.
 
The B would usually flip right after JBR would, that is how it went the last couple years, but for some reason they went earlier this year, maybe they know something. For anyone who has an old Satellite Radio it will work now with no subscription and you can hear Christmas music on channel 4 and channel 17 and also on Music Choice on channel 433. The question is will OGL flip like they did the last few years early on....
 
B101 changed in the morning a year ago, a week ahead of Thanksgiving. This time, it's the afternoon of that day. Is it really an appreciable difference? It seems the issues of jumping because someone else moves become a case of overblown legend. Sunny, and later Now, both changed exceptionally early, yet B101 did not immediately change.

It seems more likely--but makes for no fodder--that they pretty much go with a plan, with minimal regard for what others do.
 
If BEN-FM had flipped to all-Christmas on November 8, there's no way B101 would have waited until the 21st! One only needs to look back as far as 2008, when Now 97.5 announced on November 3 that they were sticking with all-Christmas for the rest of the season. B101 absolutely reacted to that: About five days later, B101 started "sprinkling in" Christmas songs (which they never do) and mentioning on the air that they were doing so. A mere five days after that, on November 13, they abruptly when all-Christmas. To my knowledge, they'd never before flipped that early. And quite tellingly, without in-market competition, they haven't flipped that early since.

Just like with their regular playlist, B101 reacts to what other stations in the market are doing. It really doesn't make sense for them not to. (For instance, if Mix 106.1 were to go poof right now, when B101 returns to its regular format after Christmas, there's just no way they'd be playing Neyo! And probably not Gnarls Barkley or Usher either!)
 
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