Christmas music on the radio

[eddiepritchett]

Has anybody's local radio station gone to all Christmas yet??? When it does what is the station????

 

[danikayser84]

Last year in Albany, NY B95 flipped to Christmas the same day as WTRY, and the latter station didn't even crack the top 5 with Christmas yet WYJB hit #2, behind only WGNA. Makes me wonder about this year... although I think Clear Channel should try flipping WRVE this year instead of WTRY to Christmas

 

[Mainedude2007]

About a month ago a station in southern Maine flipped for a day to Christmas music promising to go all christmas until December 27th (104 days of Christmas, being on 104.7 FM). 24 hours later they flipped to rhythmic top 40.

 

[EZway2go]

The website 100000watts.com usually maintains a list of stations by state switching to all-Christmas, and it's updated daily (or so they've done the last couple of years). I checked and haven't seen anything yet, so it's too early. But I would recommend checking that site again the first week of November.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

According to Radio Insight.com, newly-launched KYXE-104.9 in the Yakima, Washington area has gone all-Christmas, and likely will remain so through December 25th.

I doubt anyone else will flip before November 1st, but I can see at least 20-30 stations (maybe more??) doing so that day (last year, about a dozen stations were all-Christmas on November 1st, about twice as many as on that date in 2010). I don't think there will be more all-Christmas stations this year than last, but I think many that do take the plunge will start earlier.

In my hometown of Boston, I can see Christmas Channel (a/k/a Clear Channel) temporarily flip their newly-acquired WHBA-101.7 (a "variety hits" format) to all-Christmas as early as November 1st (given that Clear Channel is the most aggressive company as regards all-Christmas formats) , which might force CBS's Hot AC WBMX-104.1 (replacing the now-top-40 WODS) and either Greater Media's classic hits WROR-105.7 (which has done for for several years) or that company's soft AC WMJX-106.7 (which woulds be a much better demographic fit for an all-Christmas format) to flip shortly (maybe minutes) after WHBA does.

As I pointed out recently on the Boston board, I think all-Christmas for up to 55 days is overkill. Were I programming a music station, I wouldn't even play any Christmas music until December 1st; then play one Christmas song every third hour between December 1st and 10th; one Christmas song every other hour from December 11th until December 18th; and one Christmas song an hour from December 18th until 12 Noon on Christmas Eve.

I'd only go all-Christmas for 36 hours, from 12 Noon December 24th through 12 Midnight on December 25th.

However, retail advertisers pressure radio to play more Christmas music, and to start doing it earlier, since they believe that Christmas music on radio is a subliminal reminder to listeners to "Get Your Christmas Shopping Done!" (as for me, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping! I do it very early to avoid the post-Thanksgiving rush). Given that retail advertising makes up the majority of revenue for most commercial stations that play music, stations and group owners generally succumb to the pressure.

 

[sack]

I already saw my first "holiday" commercial for Target, weeks before Halloween. Way too early for that.

ALthough I do enjoy Christmas music, most of what is played is shmaltzy A/C stuff, dull, duller and dullest. There is so much fun rock and old R&B Christmas music that you never hear on the radio. I understand the formulaic programming to gain the biggest audience, but why does that happen in a niche format like Christmas music. THere seems to be plenty of room to expand playlists. I never seem to hear Bruce, Tom Petty, The Beatles Christmas records,The Temptations, the Phil Spector Christmas album, or even ALvin and the Chipmunks or the Waitresses, all pretty mainstream to my ears.

Just a thought.

 

[ajc_trw]

I already saw my first "holiday" commercial for Target, weeks before Halloween. Way too early for that.

I've had this for so many years I think it's way to early for this thread!

But I can be way to sensitive. ;D

 

[firepoint525]

ALthough I do enjoy Christmas music, most of what is played is shmaltzy A/C stuff, dull, duller and dullest. There is so much fun rock and old R&B Christmas music that you never hear on the radio. I understand the formulaic programming to gain the biggest audience, but why does that happen in a niche format like Christmas music. THere seems to be plenty of room to expand playlists. I never seem to hear Bruce, Tom Petty, The Beatles Christmas records,The Temptations, the Phil Spector Christmas album, or even ALvin and the Chipmunks or the Waitresses, all pretty mainstream to my ears.

If you aren't hearing that overproduced Phil Spector garbage every year, you aren't listening to much Christmas music. It's all I can do to avoid that crap! And the first Very Special Christmas album still gets way too much airplay, probably at the expense of all the followup albums!

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Although I do enjoy Christmas music, most of what is played is schmaltzy A/C stuff, dull, duller and dullest. There is so much fun rock and old R&B Christmas music that you never hear on the radio.

That's probably because most of the stations that do temporarily suspend their regular formats over in November and December to go 24/7 Christmas music are Soft Adult Contemporary formats, and as such, an effort does have to be made to have the Christmas music "fit" somewhat with what listeners to those stations expect to hear over the rest of the year.

 

[Hardrocker9]

According to Radio Insight.com, newly-launched KYXE-104.9 in the Yakima, Washington area has gone all-Christmas, and likely will remain so through December 25th.

Is that true? Could this be the first station to flip for the 2012 holiday season?

 

[EZway2go]

ALthough I do enjoy Christmas music, most of what is played is shmaltzy A/C stuff, dull, duller and dullest. There is so much fun rock and old R&B Christmas music that you never hear on the radio. I understand the formulaic programming to gain the biggest audience, but why does that happen in a niche format like Christmas music. THere seems to be plenty of room to expand playlists. I never seem to hear Bruce, Tom Petty, The Beatles Christmas records,The Temptations, the Phil Spector Christmas album, or even ALvin and the Chipmunks or the Waitresses, all pretty mainstream to my ears.

If you aren't hearing that overproduced Phil Spector garbage every year, you aren't listening to much Christmas music. It's all I can do to avoid that crap! And the first Very Special Christmas album still gets way too much airplay, probably at the expense of all the followup albums!

I thought the same thing. Jeez, I wish I could find a station that doesn't play Springsteen's "Merry Christmas Baby" or "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" every 45 minutes.

 

[EZway2go]

According to Radio Insight.com, newly-launched KYXE-104.9 in the Yakima, Washington area has gone all-Christmas, and likely will remain so through December 25th.

Is that true? Could this be the first station to flip for the 2012 holiday season?

Apparently so. From what I've read, it's the launch of a customized format called North Pole Radio.

 

[firepoint525]

Although I do enjoy Christmas music, most of what is played is schmaltzy A/C stuff, dull, duller and dullest. There is so much fun rock and old R&B Christmas music that you never hear on the radio.

That's probably because most of the stations that do temporarily suspend their regular formats over in November and December to go 24/7 Christmas music are Soft Adult Contemporary formats, and as such, an effort does have to be made to have the Christmas music "fit" somewhat with what listeners to those stations expect to hear over the rest of the year.

Our AC station here (Nashville) has gotten "hotter" and edgier over the last five years or so, particularly with no full-time hot AC here any longer. Yet they, too, play the absolute sappiest Christmas songs over and over and over again every year at Christmas. But apparently, the reason why they (and others) simply switch to Christmas music cold-turkey (rather than starting out by playing a few at a time and then gradually increasing) is because the Christmas songs that they DO play simply don't blend well with the non-Christmas music that they play the rest of the year. Hard to justify playing Bing Crosby and P!nk back-to-back. But both artists are on their roster, just not at the same time of the year. Would definitely be a trainwreck playing those two back-to-back.

 

[anotherguyTN]

The AC CCM Fish stations in Nashville go all Christmas every year starting in November, and they'll play AC CCM christmas music, but they mix in too much secular easy listening Christmas music as well at the times I've heard them. I definitely think they could mix in more clean secular AC Christmas music as well.

As for my own personal listening I have a ton of Christmas comedy music that I listen to on my MP3 player that doesn't get played much on the radio anywhere.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Dobule post again. Sorry. :

 

[firepoint525]

The AC CCM Fish stations in Nashville go all Christmas every year starting in November, and they'll play AC CCM christmas music, but they mix in too much secular easy listening Christmas music as well at the times I've heard them. I definitely think they could mix in more clean secular AC Christmas music as well.
As for my own personal listening I have a ton of Christmas comedy music that I listen to on my MP3 player that doesn't get played much on the radio anywhere.

Yes, the Fish and Mix 92.9 have almost identical playlists during November and December. I have heard the Beach Boys "Little Saint Nick" on the Fish. (I don't hear much Christmas music anywhere, because I tend to delete all-Christmas-music-playing stations from my presets. And I have been known to PERMANENTLY change my listening habits because of a station's programming during November-December.) Seems like the Fish usually changes over to all-Christmas before Mix 92.9 does, but Mix has the stronger signal.

 

[crainbebo]

I hear Jeff Foxworthy's "Redneck 12 Days of X-Mas" quite a bit on the C&W stations during December.

-crainbebo

 

[werecat]

I live in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. There is only one commercial music FM station here. It's a typical Canadian style hot AC station that plays more rhythmic/urban music than American hot AC stations do yet still plays classic rock music as well. Basically, they seem to be trying to please everyone.

The other three FM stations are Christian, aboriginal, and CBC.

The hot AC station didn't go all Christmas last year except for maybe on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I think they gradually started mixing in the Christmas music as Christmas got closer.

Some of the radios where I work have the hot AC station playing the background. So I'll hear what happens this year.

Late October or early November is too early for "all Christmas" music. I once worked full time at a retail store and was forced to hear the sappy Christmas songs and irritating novelty songs over and over again for two months. That is just way too much. It's overkill! I really wish they'd at least ease into playing Christmas music. Maybe play one or two of those songs an hour for a while, and then get closer to an all Christmas format as Christmas gets closer.

 

[EZway2go]

The website 100000watts.com usually maintains a list of stations by state switching to all-Christmas, and it's updated daily (or so they've done the last couple of years). I checked and haven't seen anything yet, so it's too early. But I would recommend checking that site again the first week of November.

The 100000watts.com list is now available...

http://www.100000watts.com/specials.asp