It's Christmas In Milwaukee

[DToTheJ]

Within a single hour, Milwaukee suddenly went from zero all-Christmas stations to two of them.

On Thursday, 99.1 WMYX flipped the Christmas switch at 5 PM. Not to be outdone, Oldies 95.7 (WRIT) abruptly went all-holiday-hits at a few minutes shy of 6 PM.

WMYX and WRIT are notorious for going all-Christmas relatively as close to each other as possible.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/133663078.html

 

[BRNout]

Within a single hour, Milwaukee suddenly went from zero all-Christmas stations to two of them.

On Thursday, 99.1 WMYX flipped the Christmas switch at 5 PM. Not to be outdone, Oldies 95.7 (WRIT) abruptly went all-holiday-hits at a few minutes shy of 6 PM.

WMYX and WRIT are notorious for going all-Christmas relatively as close to each other as possible.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/133663078.html

Truly infuriating. I tuned in to WRIT last night expecting to hear classic hits and instead heard some tacky X-Mas tune. On November freakin' 10th. Did CC really have to do this? And what becomes of the talent?

Frankly, the whole """"holiday"""" format thing is better for female-skewing AC formats anyway. All of the ratings superstars with that format (like WLIT) have such formats. Oldies stations have more mixed results.

I, for one, won't be tuning to 95.7 until 12/26/11 now. What a waste.

 

[VARTV]

Same thing happened here in SE VA. One station went at 3 p.m. and they other at 4 p.m...

 

[FightingIrish]

Within a single hour, Milwaukee suddenly went from zero all-Christmas stations to two of them.

On Thursday, 99.1 WMYX flipped the Christmas switch at 5 PM. Not to be outdone, Oldies 95.7 (WRIT) abruptly went all-holiday-hits at a few minutes shy of 6 PM.

WMYX and WRIT are notorious for going all-Christmas relatively as close to each other as possible.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/133663078.html

Truly infuriating. I tuned in to WRIT last night expecting to hear classic hits and instead heard some tacky X-Mas tune. On November freakin' 10th. Did CC really have to do this? And what becomes of the talent?

Frankly, the whole """"holiday"""" format thing is better for female-skewing AC formats anyway. All of the ratings superstars with that format (like WLIT) have such formats. Oldies stations have more mixed results.

I, for one, won't be tuning to 95.7 until 12/26/11 now. What a waste.

What talent? They've got a morning show and the rest of the day is voicetracks.

Nothing changes there.

Personally, I think all-Christmas formats (particularly ones that start in early November) are obnoxious.

 

[BRNout]

What talent? They've got a morning show and the rest of the day is voicetracks.

Nothing changes there.

Personally, I think all-Christmas formats (particularly ones that start in early November) are obnoxious.

Yeah, good point. The little bit of listening I could stomach indicated that the same voices are 'hosting' their usual shifts.

Totally agree on the obnoxiousness of the all-Christmas format. Especially when you're in early November with 60-degree temperatures. This pushing of "The Holidays" for a longer and longer period has become obscene. All about the Benjamins. Call me The Grinch, but I personally don't care to hear that stuff until about 12/22. However, I'll accept it as of the day after Thanksgiving. Any time before 12:01 am on 11/25 is too early and is offensive as far as I am concerned.

It really irks me when ownership groups force-flip stations that are doing perfectly well in their formats to 'all-Christmas' just so they can have a horse in the supposed race. This pseudo-format doesn't fit with WRIT-FM's usual listenership, which is actually quite unlike WMYX (where it is a good fit).

Thank God WLS-FM doesn't have a tradition of doing this nonsense. As I live between Chicago and Milwaukee, WLS-FM is my usual #1 choice with WRIT-FM my backup. Now, Chicago's K-Hits gets a little more attention as 95.7 is suspended from my radio's presets for 50 days.

 

[AlexBrowne]

When we were growing up, Top 40 stations played Christmas music, but they mixed it in with their regular playlists, going "all Christmas" on Christmas eve and day. That was just fine and appropriate. This "all Christmas" format is not what oldies stations' regular listeners want. I mean does ANYBODY want to hear Burl Ives singing "Holly Jolly Christmas" in November (or ever)? For me, it's plug in the iPhone TuneIn app and listen to stations in other cities that are staying true to the music. That includes the previously mentioned WLS-FM in Chicago, and one of my real favorites, WDJO in Cincinnati.

 

[FightingIrish]

When we were growing up, Top 40 stations played Christmas music, but they mixed it in with their regular playlists, going "all Christmas" on Christmas eve and day. That was just fine and appropriate. This "all Christmas" format is not what oldies stations' regular listeners want. I mean does ANYBODY want to hear Burl Ives singing "Holly Jolly Christmas" in November (or ever)? For me, it's plug in the iPhone TuneIn app and listen to stations in other cities that are staying true to the music. That includes the previously mentioned WLS-FM in Chicago, and one of my real favorites, WDJO in Cincinnati.

Or, for the people who miss WRIT, Clear Channel's I Heart Radio app has roughly a hundred or so oldies stations that sound exactly like WRIT. I'm sure quite a few of them have the same jocks too!

Here in Milwaukee, I always liked B93's approach. They're an AC station that plays a lot of 80s-90s gold (all-80s weekends), transitioning from soft AC a few years ago. In most markets, they would be the most likely to flip, but they don't do "all-Christmas" until Christmas Day, though they will play a few holiday tunes mixed in to the playlist. They have positioned themselves as the non-Christmas music alternative, and really established themselves in the ratings a few years ago when people started fleeing WRIT and WMYX in November (could have been the year of the infamous pre-Halloween Christmas flip).

 

[weekendbob]

Up the Interstate in Madison, WOLX 94.9 made the flip this morning.

 

[musicfanpete]

Up the Interstate in Madison, WOLX 94.9 made the flip this morning.

I don't get it. Why WMYX insists on going all-Christmas in the first place is beyond me! They must be one of the only Hot AC stations in the country that goes all-Christmas every year. And this is a station that still has a bit of an identity crisis.

For years they were probably one of the only Hot AC stations in the country to air Delilah. Well, they finally got rid of her, but replaced her with Kim Iverson and her worthless lifestyle show! Yes, during the rest of the year they play Hot AC music during her shift, but usually only 7 or 8 songs an hour at the expense of a talk show I would not even program on an AM talk station! And now they go all-Christmas again! Someone tell me are they a Hot AC station or an AC station? I know their music has been bordering more CHR lately, so why the all-Christmas format and a stupid syndicated show in the evenings giving relationship advise to women?! I am at a loss for this.

Thankfully WTMX in Chicago has gone the other direction in recent years. While they have skewed a bit too far CHR leaning for a Hot AC station recently, at least they air live and local talent during all dayparts, and are even more agressive on new music during the evenings with their "U Mix It" show where listeners get to vote for which songs get played from 8 to midnight. Talk about opening up a playlist as well as a total contrast to the stale, outdated approach WMYX takes! I guess that's why WTMX scores higher ratings in Chicago than WMYX does in Milwaukee with only half the number of stations there!