They might. They didn’t in 2020. They might not. Therein lies the speculation. With reasonable wiggle room on timing, we can guess what management of the B will do. The Breeze seems more questionable.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Christmas Music
- Thread starter BJSteigner
- Start date
Some months ago, they moved "Vinyl Tap" from WOGL-2.to WBEB-2, so it may not be early Christmas Music followed the BEB Playlist during the Holidays this year.
I hate these annual threads, but I understand why they're of interest because, even in markets that have had only one "Christmas station" -- invariably an AC -- for eons with never a challenger, the date of the flip is fluid. Does anyone know why? Does it have to do with whether Thanksgiving is early or late in the calendar on a given year? Is the flip always on the same day of the week, if not the same date? I mean, why don't stations just flip on Nov. 1 or Nov. 15 or Dec. 1, whether it's a Monday, a Thursday or a Sunday, or whether Thanksgiving is Nov. 23 or Nov. 28? After all, Christmas will always be on Dec. 25, which means the same number of shopping days (the REAL reason for the season to radio people) whenever Frosty and Santa and the Chipmunks (the REAL holy trinity of Christmas radio) make their annual reappearance.
Now, those annual "Why doesn't (call letters) play Christmas music past Dec. 26?" threads ... I hate those unequivocally!
Lots of banjo *virtuosity* in that song imo. Same in "Dueling Banjos". To each his/her own I guess. But even I think they're better than the Sunnysiders' "Hey Mr. Banjo" (thank you, Charlie Adams [late of WEEU] for that one).
You
I would imagine trying to figure out which date to flip involves quite a bit of strategy and that can be quite different from station to station. I suppose some owners don't want to be out of format for too long while having to respect the fact that they're getting a revenue bump by doing so. A lot of people poo-pooh the idea that, in markets where there's more than one Christmas station, they are interested in "beating the other to the punch," but if my station were known as the market's Christmas music station, I would be interested in protecting my franchise. And we've seen that here in Philly: On the handful of occasions when a station besides WBEB jumped in early, B101 pulled the trigger earlier than they typically do. (Some seem to get super excited to argue that particular point but, I mean, it's hard to argue with a calendar.) I also think some station managers don't particularly like the stunt but realize they can't not do it. So they may hold off as long as possible each year.
As for the annual calls for stations to keep the format going after Christmas Day, yes, I can see how that would be difficult for some to understand. A lot of people are realllllly into the Christmas season and when it's over, it leads to a sort of depression. Something like a reverse seasonal affective disorder. It's easier to understand why people get depressed when Summer ends. "I can't believe I have to get through a whole disgusting winter before I can get back to the beach!" and "I can't believe I have to get through 10 whole months before it's Christmastime again!" are basically the same statement but from different points of view.) It's clear that many people are absolutely delighted when Christmas music is on the radio. I don't begrudge the few who would prefer to be weaned off of it as opposed to the finality of the 12:01 am hard flip back to the regular format and imaging. It really does make some folks sad.
I would note that different ownership and different programmers render what happened in the past somewhat moot, stations not being sentient beings 
. As we've seen in many ways, Audacy doesn't exactly follow Jerry Lee's playbook. The new people may be inclined to disregard what the former guys and gals did.
On the calendar topic, earlier than normal also factors in to when Thanksgiving falls, perhaps? November 28 for Turkey Day can be much different than November 22, when you start calculating when to make a move. Or heck, you just don't want to be bound to "it's always on X date or Y days ahead of Thanksgiving." Pull a random number out of a hat to keep people guessing if that's your thing. (OK, not really; just having some fun. We all know the basic window.)
. As we've seen in many ways, Audacy doesn't exactly follow Jerry Lee's playbook. The new people may be inclined to disregard what the former guys and gals did. On the calendar topic, earlier than normal also factors in to when Thanksgiving falls, perhaps? November 28 for Turkey Day can be much different than November 22, when you start calculating when to make a move. Or heck, you just don't want to be bound to "it's always on X date or Y days ahead of Thanksgiving." Pull a random number out of a hat to keep people guessing if that's your thing. (OK, not really; just having some fun. We all know the basic window.)
Typically the start date is related to the start of the December ratings period, which in 2021 begins on November 11 and continues until December 8. The station wants to maximize their ratings during one pre-holiday book. Then the holiday book begins on December 9.
November 11th is a Thursday. Might be a bad day for a flip. So my guess is Friday the 12th.
November 11th is a Thursday. Might be a bad day for a flip. So my guess is Friday the 12th.
In at least one market where I've worked, the AC station could be counted on to play all Christmas all the time from Thanksgiving day through until New Years Day. They carried Delilah in the evenings and aired the holiday version of her show throughout that time. IMO it was fine because, as you state @Miguelito, some hate for all things Christmas to just 'stop' on that day and they like to be weaned off it. Some offices don't operate between Christmas and New Years and if they do, they have a skeleton staff or many work remotely for a few hours here and there. Some folks spend that week between Christmas and New Years visiting with friends and relatives, shopping using the gift cards they got (or doing returns), making NYE plans and more or less keeping the Christmas spirit going.
For me, I don't want to hear Christmas music until Thanksgiving arrives. Many stations and music sources playing holiday music use a relatively limited number of songs and/or artists in rotation, and depending on if they play newer artists or all classics or a combination of both, too much of a good thing can get old.
Last edited:
my solution is simple—stream something else. or use my custom playlist of holiday and regular music to sprinkle it in and get ramped up for the season, and then ramping down through early January. While I’ll never get the all holiday all the time appeal in mid November, it inarguably provides good results in most cases. So be it. Have fun with it.
Of course, December is a discreet ratings period only in PPM markets. In diary markets, "December" is really the 84 days ending with the last day of the "December", December 8.
And the diary markets have no Holiday measurement, so they don't get the benefit of the two best weeks.
Diary markets are not as good for Christmas stations in the ratings ever since the PPM started. We used to have only a two week Christmas hiatus in ratings, and one "empty" week between books twice a year. Now, we have four unmeasured weeks at the holiday time, starting around the first week of December.
We're talking Philadelphia here.
So 80-some stations go to all-Christmas…and the Breeze ain’t listed among them. Seems the answer is there.
I don't think Lite FM in NYC flipped yet either. So while the chances of the Breeze are flipping are low, it's not a definite no.
Here in Cheyenne, my local "Star 97.1" just made the flip this evening (11/5/21). Now they are "Cheyenne's Home for the Holidays". I know this is not Philadelphia, but it is realted to Christmas
The Breeze 10am
Lite flips Monday
More power to 'em. Ho ho ho...fa la la...and such.
Oh, I kind of doubt that. The Stampeders record went to #8 in 1971 and was a big hit on WABC. There were probably thousands of copies of that record sold between NYC and Philly! Heck, there are 307 copies for sale right now on Discogs.
As far as Top 40 entries, The Stampeders were a 2-hit wonder - their version of "Hit The Road Jack" peaked at #40 in early 1976. (I don't think I've heard that version, but Joel Whitburn says it includes a phone conversation with The Wolfman.)
- Status