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Christmas In Boston

I think Entercome and 93.7 made the mistake before of going Christmas. They were beaten badly by Oldies 103.3. I don't think they'll try it again.
 
96.1 WSRS announced today that they will once again be Worcester's official home for the holidays! I wonder if they'll do it even earlier this year. Last year, I think they started like the weekend before Thanksgiving. But since they announced it before we're even halfway through October, I wonder if they'll be starting it like the day after Halloween.
 
Yeah, well LOWE'S Hardware has those big Christmas Spheres up already, early October - so don't think they aren't going to pounce on us as soon as possible. Christmas Music on All Saints Day.
 
;)

cheapman...

Just a thought about traditional Christmas music VS "grandma's mishap with the reindeer?"

If a radio station programmed only vocal or instrumental versions of SILENT NIGHT (or some other carol) the rollover time for an all-carol/secular music format would probably be very short? As much as I enjoy listening to seasonal music, I doubt I could spend my entire workday without a few 'peppier' Christmas songs or contemporary melodies interspersed along the way?

The majority of CHRISTMAS RADIO MUSIC LISTENERS tune into a holiday format because they're expecting more variety. Various renditions of WHITE CHRISTMAS, BLUE CHRISTMAS, HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS or a contemporary Christmas tune mixed in with the traditional carols seems to work?

Of course...if a music or talk radio station wanted to program Yuletide or seasonally oriented HOLIDAY STORIES one hour per night (6-7pm) from December 1st through the 24th---and all day on Christmas---that would certainly break the "Grandma reindeer termination music mold".......don't you think?

argytunes
 
That’s all well and good, but when is a Boston station going to grow a pair and start programming all Chanukah music from Halloween to New Year’s? The All Kwanzaa All The Time Station just got sold. Where has all the diversity gone? :'(
 
Hi Lucy!

You've just nailed the reason why RADIO is such a "tired" medium. Few stations are interested in diversity! Offering a format that's different, not mainstream or limited to 1 or 2 months---like Christmas music---takes GUTS!

As well as advertisers and/or anonymous cash donors who are willing to support it!

Sadly...if a format isn't an instant success within a rating period, changes will be made! Actually, the diversified format could ENTIRELY disappear with any word of warning (or promotion)?

Because there are so many listening options available for each of us (via satellite radio or the cds we might bring into our workplace from home)...the days of keeping "constantly loyal radio listeners" are pretty much O-U-T!

argytunes
 
How did that All Led Zep All The Time station pan out in FLA? I remember hearing about it when it started but nothing after that.
 
Lucylu said:
How did that All Led Zep All The Time station pan out in FLA? I remember hearing about it when it started but nothing after that.
Click to expand...

The past few generations have tried that with one of their favorite artists. There have been brief attempts at all-Beatles stations, and all-Elvis (Presley) stations. I don't know of any such stations devoted to only one artists that have lasted.

Also, nowadays such a station would not be able to stream their audio on the web without violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
 
Bob Dylan and The Stones are on satellite radio 24/7. Perhaps that's the solution, put the "genre" stunts on satellite or, as Eli notes, find a way to not violate the DMCA and stream.
 
I enjoy most Christmas songs. Most of them are pretty good, but the one that gets on my nerves the most is "O Tannabaum" because it's all in German. Fortunately most mainstream stations don't play it. I think the last time I heard that song on the radio was in 2001 when a small station in CT was in-between formats and they were attempting an all XMAS format by running an all XMAS Stream From LIVE 365 over the air. Problem was the stream kept dying and the station was mostly running an all-dead air format. ;D

The other one I could take or leave is "Dominc the Italian Christmas Donkey". That one gets alot of airplay on the Soft AC station here in Hartford. And last year I actually heard it in Italian on the Italian Melodies Show on the above mentioned AMer.
 
Lucylu:

That All Led Zep station was 98 Rock, WXTB/Clearwater-Tampa, FL. The station was very successful throughout the 90s into the early part of the 2000s. They had some slumps in recent years due to staffing (especially w/ Bubba the Love Sponge) and briefly tried to be the Clear Channel version of an alternative station. I think they've got their bearings straight again as I believe they're starting to tick up the ratings ladder.

Back to Boston, the bottom line is, the market expects that Oldies 103.3 is going to go all-Christmas. I think it's good because a lot of the familiar holiday music was released years ago, roughly the time-span that Oldies 103.3 picks its usual format anyway. Last year, the fall book ratings shot up for WODS. I expect the same for this year. In most markets, it's the AC station that goes all-Christmas, or the station that's about to flip formats anyway. In Boston, it's Oldies 103.3. And maybe Magic 106.7. Someone's always gotta be second-fiddle.

Jacko
 
Jacko said:
Back to Boston, the bottom line is, the market expects that Oldies 103.3 is going to go all-Christmas. I think it's good because a lot of the familiar holiday music was released years ago, roughly the time-span that Oldies 103.3 picks its usual format anyway. Last year, the fall book ratings shot up for WODS. I expect the same for this year. In most markets, it's the AC station that goes all-Christmas, or the station that's about to flip formats anyway. In Boston, it's Oldies 103.3. And maybe Magic 106.7. Someone's always gotta be second-fiddle.

Jacko
Click to expand...

103.3 and 106.7 are almost direct competitors for much of the same demo anyway, so they've both got to supply the succesful annual Christmas format. Magic has always been Greater Media's main competition for Oldies 103.3, and recently with WROR as a secondary competitor.

WROR used to compete more with WZLX, but since having bested them in the ratings for the past couple of years anyway, WROR lately seems to be going musically for a piece of the WODS pie, and if WROR siphons a little chunk from WODS's numbers in the books, it only makes their flagship Magic appear even stronger against them. I have no idea if that's really Greater Media's strategy or not, but it came to my mind as a possibility.
 
Whatever happend to the days when you only played it full tilt on the 24th and the 25th.

and who will go all Christmas first? Both stations probobly have a full Christmas lineup all ready When one flips the other will flip within minutes.
 
Last year, on Thursday, November 17, in the morning, Santa Claus came into the studio of Oldies 103.3 to announce the changeover, and it happened then. And then Magic 106.7 did it the day after Thanksgiving.
 
Marc B...

Can you imagine the pain of singing "O TANNEBAUM" in German? It took our high school choral director 3 months before the Boys Glee Club got all the german words correct!

I wonder if anybody reading this remembers the Christmas tune that the Royal Guardsmen sang that began with the lyrics to "O Tannebaum?" [Hint: the song involved a famous cartoon dog].

argytunes
 
argytunes said:
I wonder if anybody reading this remembers the Christmas tune that the Royal Guardsmen sang that began with the lyrics to "O Tannebaum?" [Hint: the song involved a famous cartoon dog].

argytunes
Click to expand...

"Snoopy's Christmas". 103.3 (and others) still pull it out every year.
 
;)

I guess that was an easy one for you...wasn't it, Eli?

Despite the fact that SNOOPY'S CHRISTMAS has been around for more than 3 decades of Christmas seasons, the song still manages to spread a little joy about the yuletide season.

"Put the guns and ammo down for one day...and share a toast to the season instead!"

That song always makes me feel good.... ;D

argytunes
 
argytunes said:
Despite the fact that SNOOPY'S CHRISTMAS has been around for more than 3 decades of Christmas seasons, the song still manages to spread a little joy about the yuletide season.
Click to expand...

This season is the songs 39'th year. A year from now will be it's 40'th anniversary.
 
chitchatjf said:
Whatever happend to the days when you only played it full tilt on the 24th and the 25th.

and who will go all Christmas first? Both stations probobly have a full Christmas lineup all ready When one flips the other will flip within minutes.
Click to expand...

i don't think magic will be dumb enough to try it again this year, but then again it's a greater media's station and you know how that goes. i am sure oldies will run it again since they've painted themselves in the corner as the christmas station in boston.
 
I wouldn't say they've "painted themselves into a corner!" Super numbers in the FALL and WINTER books, phenominal ad revenue, so I would suppose it is a nice corner to be in, if that is the case. And it appears, that after 3 years of doing it, it hasn't hurt the station one bit, consistently hanging around the Top 5 in the market. That in itself isn't too shabby, considering the state of the 'oldies format' nationwide.
 
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