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Philly (sort of) gets a 2nd All-Christmas Station

Similar to iHeart, Audacy looks like they’re using national logs and a national list for Christmas music. Look at WBEB, WMJX, and WLIF, and the recently played songs are almost, if not exactly, identical. This has been the case for a few years. The newer tracks seem to get played outside of prime dayparts. As of this writing, Elvis and The Beach Boys were played within the last hour.
 
Radio Wreck said:
This is completely anecdotal but I was at a Christmas party last night and I spoke with about 5 people who have noticed what I’ve been thinking over the last couple of weeks and that is B101’s Christmas music this year has been bizarre to say the least.

They’re playing many contemporary tunes (makes sense for them) mixed with 70-75 year old songs from Gene Autry, Bing Crosby and Perry Como. They’re playing a handful of songs from the 70’s and 80’s but not much in between except for an occasional track from Bobby Helms, Andy Williams and Brenda Lee. Some of the biggest Christmas tunes ever recorded are from the late 50’s and early 60’s. My question is where’s Elvis, The Beach Boys, Four Seasons, etc.? They aren’t even playing much (if anything) from Phil Spector’s album which many music enthusiasts have called the greatest Christmas album of all time. 2 years ago Cher released a fantastic Christmas album of new songs and covers of old songs with duets from Stevie Wonder and Darlene Love but I haven’t heard one track from the album on B101.

They obviously aren’t worried about older demos since they’re playing pop music from the early 50’s so it seems to me that they’re being remiss by not including some of the great songs of the late 50’s and early 60’s. These songs are certainly more in tune with a Hot AC format than anything recorded shortly after World War II.
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Radio Wreck said:
This is completely anecdotal but I was at a Christmas party last night and I spoke with about 5 people who have noticed what I’ve been thinking over the last couple of weeks and that is B101’s Christmas music this year has been bizarre to say the least.

They’re playing many contemporary tunes (makes sense for them) mixed with 70-75 year old songs from Gene Autry, Bing Crosby and Perry Como. They’re playing a handful of songs from the 70’s and 80’s but not much in between except for an occasional track from Bobby Helms, Andy Williams and Brenda Lee. Some of the biggest Christmas tunes ever recorded are from the late 50’s and early 60’s. My question is where’s Elvis, The Beach Boys, Four Seasons, etc.? They aren’t even playing much (if anything) from Phil Spector’s album which many music enthusiasts have called the greatest Christmas album of all time. 2 years ago Cher released a fantastic Christmas album of new songs and covers of old songs with duets from Stevie Wonder and Darlene Love but I haven’t heard one track from the album on B101.

They obviously aren’t worried about older demos since they’re playing pop music from the early 50’s so it seems to me that they’re being remiss by not including some of the great songs of the late 50’s and early 60’s. These songs are certainly more in tune with a Hot AC format than anything recorded shortly after World War II.
Click to expand...

I don't think I've heard a Four Seasons Christmas song on a terrestrial radio Christmas playlist since WOGL stopped doing "Christmas Classics". Some Elvis, Beach Boys, and Spector songs have continued to get rotation in recent years, but they do seem to have a diminished presence as of this year (and not just on B101). Guessing that aside from the aforementioned Bobby Helms and Brenda Lee, the most popular traditional pop standards must test better with the target audience than the "oldies" era stuff.

But like I said, WSTW is playing a lot of those songs. And from what I've gathered, their playlist isn't particularly deeper than B101's, just older-skewing.
 
mjb1124 said:
I don't think I've heard a Four Seasons Christmas song on a terrestrial radio Christmas playlist since WOGL stopped doing "Christmas Classics".
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I miss hearing promos for "W-O-O-OGL" on KYW. As for listening to music (Christmas or otherwise) myself, I only do it when driving, via CDs. Merry Christmas, RD'ers.
 
And just like that....Christmas is over on WSTW. As a Hot AC station, this makes sense. The mainstream AC...B 101 is continuing through New Years Eve.
 
Radio Wreck said:
This is completely anecdotal but I was at a Christmas party last night and I spoke with about 5 people who have noticed what I’ve been thinking over the last couple of weeks and that is B101’s Christmas music this year has been bizarre to say the least.

They’re playing many contemporary tunes (makes sense for them) mixed with 70-75 year old songs from Gene Autry, Bing Crosby and Perry Como. They’re playing a handful of songs from the 70’s and 80’s but not much in between except for an occasional track from Bobby Helms, Andy Williams and Brenda Lee. Some of the biggest Christmas tunes ever recorded are from the late 50’s and early 60’s. My question is where’s Elvis, The Beach Boys, Four Seasons, etc.? They aren’t even playing much (if anything) from Phil Spector’s album which many music enthusiasts have called the greatest Christmas album of all time. 2 years ago Cher released a fantastic Christmas album of new songs and covers of old songs with duets from Stevie Wonder and Darlene Love but I haven’t heard one track from the album on B101.

They obviously aren’t worried about older demos since they’re playing pop music from the early 50’s so it seems to me that they’re being remiss by not including some of the great songs of the late 50’s and early 60’s. These songs are certainly more in tune with a Hot AC format than anything recorded shortly after World War II.
Click to expand...
Maybe they didn't score well enough in the annual online Christmas Music Survey. Just kidding.

I would assume the station didn't bother straying too far from the company's national playlist (to be frank, why would they bother?), so I guess it would be instructive to take a gander at what other Audacy all-Christmas stations' playlists sounded like.

I didn't hear a whole lot of terrestrial this season, but when I did, I preferred the music on WSTW. I was in Quebec for the week of Christmas, but I assume that station returned to its usual format at midnight on December 26. Meanwhile, B101 is playing all-Christmas through New Year's Day, which leaves me wondering how many at-work listeners are being yelled at by their colleagues right now.
 


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