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B101.1's Christmas Music Survey (a.k.a., Fixing What Wasn't Broken)

Miguelito

Miguelito

B101's Christmas Music Survey is up and they ruined it. Did they used to require your email address and phone number?! And that you agree to a "Terms of Service" and "Privacy Policy"? There are no longer links to sample the songs so folks are expected to rate them based on memory. Even the on-screen layout of the survey is a mess. And they're doing "rounds" of surveys where they will apparently change the songs every week. For week #1, there are 27 songs. (Why 27?) "At the end of it all, we'll feature the top 25 songs, picked by you, our holiday listeners, during our Top 25 Christmas Music Countdown!"

What's that? When will it air? And is the idea that listeners will prefer it to the 101-song countdown that the station has aired for many years?
 
I appreciate breaking it up, as it used to be a slog to even try to complete it. But otherwise...blah.

And still no “zero” option for god-forsaken c—p like the hippopotamus song. Or Christmas Shoes. Yikes.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
I appreciate breaking it up, as it used to be a slog to even try to complete it. But otherwise...blah.

And still no “zero” option for god-forsaken c—p like the hippopotamus song. Or Christmas Shoes. Yikes.
Click to expand...

Y'all know I love Christmas music so things would have to be pretty bad for me to give a zero. But there definitely used to be a few zeros on the survey. There was a horrific Peter, Paul, and Mary song that was always on there year after year. And I'd think "Well, it's not like they'd play this song under any circumstance regardless!" I mean, in recent memory we've had B101.1, More FM, and B101 but the last time Peter, Paul, and Mary got a spin on 101.1, the station was probably called EASY 101! Until last year, when something went haywire and dammit, if I didn't hear the Peter, Paul, and Mary song on 101.1 FM! (To be fair, it sounded to me like they initially put on the pretty wackadoo Christmas library they typically play on the HD2--which was probably an error because it is definitely not the one they use on the FM.)

I usually allow "Christmas Shoes" once per season. After that occurrence, I have a special yuletide hammer I use to destroy any device that starts playing the song. "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is annoying but OK with me for nostalgia reasons. I remember how much my niece loved it when she was a little kid. (Cut to this weekend when I was watching that little kid playing soccer for her college team. Yikes.)
 
There were always some oddball clips in the previous iteration of the survey. And plenty I couldn’t recall ever hearing, not that I’m checking their playlist or listening so closely around the clock that I can say with certainty any of them weren’t played. Peter Paul and Mary? Yeah....I don’t recall that one at all. Perhaps for the best. And for the love of all things holy, stop playing that donkey song.

As I recall, for a time their 36-hour special was some kind of syndicated program that would throw in the random obscure song that just didn’t work. Comparatively, their current approach is far more enjoyable on Christmas Day. The regular format, a few sponsor mentions, the occasional promo. Even in the era of Pandora/Spotify/XM/et al, having 101 playing on Christmas morning isn’t something I’ve yet given up.

I did usually enjoy the 101 song countdown. Plenty of rankings that made me question listeners’ sanity, or my own. 25 feels....less impressive? Less special? Just less.
 
Out of towner...but can I chime in? While we're on the subject of stupid Christmas songs...I will smash the next radio I hear playing Straight No Chaser's "Text Me Merry Christmas". Even GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER would be an improvement over that pile of rotten garbage. Seriously. It plays every year on our Christmas station in Yakima WA.
At least I finally realized how good the holiday formats are on the small-town stations in our great land...KKRB Klamath Falls last year aired a lot of mainstays mixed with a lot of oh wow's. Who knew Michael Franks had a Christmas album? Also some CCM type stuff, Steven Curtis Chapman and such, that would never see the light on a holiday format in most markets above top 100. Hidden underneath Bing, Andy and Mariah are actually some good holiday songs, many of them with unique lyrics (not borrowed and covered). I always look forward to the 107.3 the Wave (Cleveland) 72 Hours of Xmas as well...nothing but a smooth jazz Xmas while wrapping the last gifts on Xmas Eve.

Walmart already has trees up. So do some other big-box stores. Hobby Lobby had Christmas stuff up several weeks ago IIRC! Tis the season for radio listeners to jump for joy the moment they hear Andy Williams on B101!
 
Still on Christmas, I think 101.1's HD2 was flipped to Christmas on October 17 for the past couple years. I wonder if they'll flip it tomorrow.
 
Interesting. I’d have gone with something like “the third Monday in October” or some such thing that doesn’t have the same numeric date each year, but hey, they did it their way as Frankie said.

Unless someone just had it as a repeating item on their Outlook calendar, lol.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Interesting. I’d have gone with something like “the third Monday in October” or some such thing that doesn’t have the same numeric date each year, but hey, they did it their way as Frankie said.

Unless someone just had it as a repeating item on their Outlook calendar, lol.
Click to expand...

outlook.jpg
 
And apparently, last year I thought they used to flip the HD2 on October 1. Sometimes I have a memory like a steel trap; other times it's like a bodega security camera: It just writes over every morning. LOL
 
Welp, unless "Need You Tonight" by INXS is now a Christmas song, October 17 does not appear to be the day anymore. (Have they ever updated this '80s Channel library?!) At least we'll always have Boston's Magic 106.7 HD2. LOL.
 
It’s an 80s library. What’s to update? Ok, mostly being facetious, but really, there are a ton of those songs, Need You Tonight among them, that would pretty much always stay on an 80s format.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
It’s an 80s library. What’s to update? Ok, mostly being facetious, but really, there are a ton of those songs, Need You Tonight among them, that would pretty much always stay on an 80s format.
Click to expand...

When I wrote that, I was thinking "They made an '80s library after the decade was over so maybe it is what it is." But that's a bit like saying WOGL should just stick with whatever '80s tunes they're playing right now and never add/delete any of them. (Of course, it's like comparing apples and very-tiny-apples-that-almost-no-one-eats since I'm comparing a big old FM signal with an HD side-channel.) But after all this time, it would be nice to not hear the same things over and over whenever I happen to give 101.1 HD2 a shot. Oh, also I was referring to the library as a whole. That INXS song in particular is a great '80s song that should probably never not be in rotation on an '80s channel. All of this would be moot if they'd just turn on the damn Christmas music. HAHAHA
 
And anyway, it's just about 2020. '80s music is part of their regular format and of course the basis of one of their sister stations. Maybe it's time for a '90s Channel instead?
 
First they’ll turn on the holiday music, then the regular main signal format. Then Christmas again for a week. Then the 80s come back. Presumably anyway. And really, we all know it’s basically filler that’s listened to by about 7 people. Lol
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
First they’ll turn on the holiday music, then the regular main signal format. Then Christmas again for a week. Then the 80s come back. Presumably anyway. And really, we all know it’s basically filler that’s listened to by about 7 people. Lol
Click to expand...

Yes but maybe it used to be 9 people. If they'd refresh the library once in a while, maybe the could have held onto #8 and #9. hahaha
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Dare to dream of double digits.
Click to expand...

HD radio as a consumer product certainly, ahem, "hit its stride" quite some time ago but I wonder if the available side-channels in any market have perhaps had an impact on sales of the devices. It's a conversation for another thread, I suppose. And also one that is complicated by many other market-to-market factors (disposable income, drivers vs. transit riders, etc). Being able to sample side-channels via webstreams may possibly have given some a reason to seek out HD radios for their cars. This '80s Channel in Philly might not have been an impetus for me personally but the aforementioned 24/7/365 Christmas station in Boston just might. But that's just me. And also, I got an HD radio for my car as early as possible because those commercials about "the stations between the stations" made me tremble with anticipation [/sarcasm].
 
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