Seattle is unique in having four full power FM Christmas music stations, three secular and one Christian. The veteran #1 Christmas station is Adult Contemporary KRWM, owned by Hubbard. It saw a big jump in its ratings. But it didn't quite hit double digits, unlike the Christmas stations in most other large markets. That's understandable considering it competes with two other secular stations for Christmas listeners.
Soft AC KSWD, owned by Audacy, was rated #5 in the Holiday period. That's good, but only about half of KRWM's ratings. And Hot AC KPLZ, owned by Lotus, finished at #12. Its ratings were up but not as much as you might think as an All-Christmas station. Nevertheless, Hot AC is one of the formats that gets hit when Mainstream AC stations do the Christmas format. So a #12 finish for KPLZ was probably better than if the station continued to play Hot AC music.
Add to the list: Christian Contemporary station KCMS finished at #6. It was actually down a bit. But imagine if it didn't go All-Christmas, a mix of pop holiday songs (Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, Carpenters) along with CCM artists doing more religious Christmas fare.
Another large market that has 3 Christmas stations is Tampa. And those stations finished 1-2-3. Soft AC WDUV, owned by Cox, was first. AC WMTX, owned by iHeart, was second. And Christian Contemporary WCIE was third.
Soft AC KSWD, owned by Audacy, was rated #5 in the Holiday period. That's good, but only about half of KRWM's ratings. And Hot AC KPLZ, owned by Lotus, finished at #12. Its ratings were up but not as much as you might think as an All-Christmas station. Nevertheless, Hot AC is one of the formats that gets hit when Mainstream AC stations do the Christmas format. So a #12 finish for KPLZ was probably better than if the station continued to play Hot AC music.
Add to the list: Christian Contemporary station KCMS finished at #6. It was actually down a bit. But imagine if it didn't go All-Christmas, a mix of pop holiday songs (Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, Carpenters) along with CCM artists doing more religious Christmas fare.
Another large market that has 3 Christmas stations is Tampa. And those stations finished 1-2-3. Soft AC WDUV, owned by Cox, was first. AC WMTX, owned by iHeart, was second. And Christian Contemporary WCIE was third.
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