For the first time in years, Cox-owned WEZI has flipped to Christmas music. In 2017, its first year on 102.9 MHz, it went all Christmas from late November to late December. But since then, it's been content to let Mainstream AC WEJZ 96.1 have the Christmas format to itself (not counting religious stations). WEZI is a mix of AC and Classic Hits most of the year. But this year, it flipped to All-Christmas a few days ago.
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Jacksonville Jacksonville Has Two All-Christmas Stations
- Thread starter Gregg.
- Start date
In virtually all radio markets, there's that radio station that has established itself as "The Official" one when it comes to Christmas/holiday season music. WEJZ has been doing that for a long time. When I lived in Jacksonville, I'd hear WEJZ playing in the background almost everywhere. Overall, I think they do a really good job with the Yule sounds. Ratings, almost always, see WEJZ earning double-digit shares in the holiday book.
I suspect WEZI will do okay with the flip. As we often see, holiday music can help attract new listeners. But what's also important to remember is that flipping to Christmas is not a guarantee to a successful outcome.
You may remember the former Clear Channel flipped its relatively new classic hits format, WJGH (Magic 107.3) to wall-to-wall Christmas music in 2005 just a few days after Halloween. It was a disaster. In the stations' social media pages, listeners fumed. As you'd expect, WEJZ followed suit. Ratings rebound just a week before Christmas. As I recall, even WEJZ didn't get the kind of numbers they typically got in the holiday book. I think they were in the 8 shares, not 12s etc.
Perhaps it's a little Monday quarterbacking, but WJGH's Christmas flip was just one of many disastrous decisions. Interestingly too, Jacksonville saw unusually warmer than normal weather in the fall of 2005. And all those songs about snow and cold didn't help. Just a few months later, CC pulled the plug on Classic Hits. I thought it was a catastrophic mistake then and one I still believe today. I also saw WJGH in more pronounced AC lean under the classic hits brand. It's a shme they weren't given more time to chart that course. There would probably not be a WEZI had CC the foresight and inclination.
I'm not saying WEZI made a mistake. The station is probably in better hands than those who manged WJGH way back when.
I doubt there will be major surprises in the holiday book, but for December WEJZ earned, as I forecast, double digit shares. 12 to be exact or 4 times more than what WEZI got. When people want to hear Christmas music, they know where to turn. As I've said often, even giving the old Magic 107.3 (WJGH) example, playing continuous holiday hits doesn't always mean huge numbers or change in listener preference.
As someone who likes to look at history, WEJZ learned a good lesson when the old "Cool 96.9" flipped to holiday favorites in November 2004 to help usher in a change in format to Classic Hits 96.9 The Eagle. It helped deliver a lot of new listeners and Eagle's launch was highly successful to say the least. Since then WEJZ has dominated when it comes to wall-to-wall holiday sounds. And IMO, they really do a great job with it!
In some markets, there are competitive Christmas stations. In Cleveland, iHeart Classic Hits WMJI competes with Audacy AC station WDOK and both usually finish at #1 and #2. In Pittsburgh, AC WSHH flips to Christmas music along with Classic Hits WWSW. In Tampa, you can choose either Soft AC WDUV or Mainstream AC WMTX for holiday sounds.
In each case, one station did if first. The other saw its success and did likewise in subsequent years. Or maybe the second station saw its own ratings plummet, and figured it's better to join them than fight them.
So the question for Cox is, can its Jacksonville station flip to Christmas music before the traditional holiday station makes the switch, hoping to get a head start? Will WEZI do it in future years to the point where it gradually erases WEJZ's advantage? In NYC, two stations tried to get in on WLTW's Christmas success. Hot AC WPLJ did it one year, Classic Hits WCBS-FM tried it once as well. But both saw no advantage and handed Lite-FM the Christmas crown.
We will soon see the Jacksonville Holiday ratings. And whether WEZI put a dent in WEJZ's numbers.
In each case, one station did if first. The other saw its success and did likewise in subsequent years. Or maybe the second station saw its own ratings plummet, and figured it's better to join them than fight them.
So the question for Cox is, can its Jacksonville station flip to Christmas music before the traditional holiday station makes the switch, hoping to get a head start? Will WEZI do it in future years to the point where it gradually erases WEJZ's advantage? In NYC, two stations tried to get in on WLTW's Christmas success. Hot AC WPLJ did it one year, Classic Hits WCBS-FM tried it once as well. But both saw no advantage and handed Lite-FM the Christmas crown.
We will soon see the Jacksonville Holiday ratings. And whether WEZI put a dent in WEJZ's numbers.