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How soon is too soon for all-Christmas stations to flip back to regular AC?

N

new_friends_gr

In the past I've noticed that some stations switch back to their regular formats as early as 6 p.m. Christmas Day. I think that's way too soon. Personally, I'd love to see some Christmas music sprinkled in between Christmas and New Year's - like it used to be back in the '80s and '90s.

6 p.m. on Christmas Day is too soon. Are there AC stations anyone's aware of that's switching back that early? Here in Grand Rapids it's 10:23 p.m. on Christmas Day and both mainstream AC stations are still playing Christmas music (probably only until midnight).
 
Most usually stop no later than midnight. My AC station didn't go all Christmas until after midnight and stopped at 3p. In fact, the song log at yes.com doesn't show a single Christmas song being played from 3p on. While I may not have done it continuously, I would've been played some Christmas songs until midnight.
 
new_friends_gr said:
Personally, I'd love to see some Christmas music sprinkled in between Christmas and New Year's - like it used to be back in the '80s and '90s.
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I would eliminate the religious Christmas songs and carols after today and stick with just seasonal songs til New Years Day. Songs like "My Favorite Things", "Jingle Bells" "Baby It's Cold Outside", "We Wish You the Merriest" and "Marshmallow World" should be kept and sprinkled in.
 
Most AC stations flip back at midnight on December 26th including KMGL/Oklahoma City and KODA/Houston and they never sprinkle in Christmas songs after that. Except, our local AC KVIL/Dallas-Ft. Worth continues all-Christmas and doesn't flip back till midnight on December 28th and they never sprinkle in Christmas songs afterwards.
 
I was listening to a few Clear Channel ACs last night via the iHeart Radio app and there were a few of them (namely the Lite FMs in New York and Chicago and WBBQ Augusta) that were still playing Christmas music at 2a Eastern. They're all back at regular programming now.
 
KODA/Houston hasn't flipped back yet actually. Last year they flipped back on the 26th.

I was doing the same thing for CC AC's via the iHeartRadio app and for CBS AC's via the Radio.com app around 11PM CST for AC stations in the Eastern Time Zone expecting most of them would flipped back by 12AM EST. I decide to view their playlist via yes.com since it's faster.
 
Well, just to give everyone an update since my original post...

The two mainstream AC stations are still playing Christmas music as of noon on December 26. The Townsquare Media-owned station, 100.5 The River (WTRV), said they will continue playing all-Christmas music until Friday, December 30. The Clear Channel station, Star 105.7 (WSRW) will probably switch back to their regular programming tomorrow. That's just my guess.
 
Here in New England the majority of AC stations have flipped back to all regular music. However, 100.5 WRCH out of Hartford is sprinkling some Christmas Music in I would say about every 45 mins. to an hour as well as WEBE 108 out of Bridgeport, CT is also sprinkling Christmas music in. In MA, RI, NH, and ME there are no AC stations playing or even sprinkling Christmas music, at least to my knowledge. Most switched back this morning at 12a. Which in my opinion is too early.
 
The Charlotte Observer said the ACs would stop midnight on Christmas Day. I think that's too soon. I'm not ready to give it up, because no station I listened to consistently played good music. Most of the ACs in the area could manage four or five good songs in a row, and in the car I could just switch back and forth between the stations.

But Dial Global America's Best Music wasn't that much better than the ACs so I never just turned it on and kept it on. Christmas Day I usually do but they had church services, plus I went to church and to my aunt's house afterward. Christmas Eve the Carolina Panthers played at the time I might have listened. And yesterday there was NO Christmas music. I was thinking they reduced it gradually. After all, for two weeks after Thanksgiving they added it gradually.

Yesterday was the big family celebration, at the same aunt's house. Most of the family came over Sunday too, but they had other families to go to. All of my first cousins are married and have to visit the spouse's family on the Big Day. And then there are second cousins with significant others, and, well, you get the picture. And so in the car on the way to and on the way home from the big celebration for me, nothing! There is a Christian station that might have been playing music, and I seem to recall they play Christmas music throughout December. I just forgot about it.

Oh, sure, I could make or buy cassette tapes, and someone could have decided to play music at my aunt's house.

It's legal to play "Little Drummer Boy" (would you believe I never heard the Harry Simeone Chorale version this year?) and "We Three Kings" until Epiphany.
 
new_friends_gr said:
The Townsquare Media-owned station, 100.5 The River (WTRV), said they will continue playing all-Christmas music until Friday, December 30. The Clear Channel station, Star 105.7 (WSRW) will probably switch back to their regular programming tomorrow. That's just my guess.
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What ended up happening was that WSRW dropped the all-Christmas format at 7 p.m. when Delilah's non-Christmas show started. It does seem a bit strange that WTRV is still doing 24/7 Christmas until Friday, but I won't complain because I'd prefer that over abruptly ending all Christmas music at 11:59 p.m. Christmas Day.

I stil wonder ... what ever happened to the concept of gradually increasing or decreasing the frequency of Christmas songs played? The idea of "sprinkling in" a few Christmas songs per hour is completely unheard of in Grand Rapids. :-(
 
I forgot to mention another option I tried. I recorded the two-hour Yule Log program two years ago when it was still all easy-going and mostly classical, and this morning as I took the tree down I listened for only the second time.

The five-hour Yule Log program on the same station this year had some junk with a beat. :mad: I didn't bother with it at all once I found that out.
 
Mix 92.9 here in Nashville returned to AC programming during the 5:00 a.m. hour on December 26th, but they were still sprinkling in about one or two Christmas songs per hour at that time. But I have not actually heard any Christmas music on the radio since Christmas Day.
 
Still receiving some TV commericials relating to Christmas songs...."It's the most wonderful Sale of the year" new car commerical. TV seems to be holding on longer than radio.
 
oldies76 said:
Still receiving some TV commericials relating to Christmas songs...."It's the most wonderful Sale of the year" new car commerical. TV seems to be holding on longer than radio.
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I was grateful for those.

As of tomorrow it's no longer legal to play "The Twelve Days of Christmas" or even "We Three Kings". I'm wearing green.
 
oldies76 said:
Still receiving some TV commericials relating to Christmas songs...."It's the most wonderful Sale of the year" new car commerical. TV seems to be holding on longer than radio.
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That sale went on through January 3rd, as per the ad itself, if you are referring to the Nissan ad. Nevermind that here in Nashville, we were not only subjected to that ad ad nauseum, we were also subjected to "the most wonderful time of the year" in a football campaign by Charter Communications throughout the fall months. So yeah, I'm sick to death of that song by now. ::)
 
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