I know it may seem early. But last year, some stations in major markets flipped to Christmas Music in the first week of November, so now’s as good a time as any to bring it up: what station has the coolest package of sweepers and sounders in that initial transition to Christmas Music? A couple that stuck out to me were;
WLTW-FM 106.7 New York - News clips announce that Christmas is coming to New York and sound bites of locals reveling in how great Christmas in New York is with local references to the Rockettes at Radio City and skating at Rockerfeller all while the big band jazz break of Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper’s rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” plays in the background. It’s just so quintessentially New York that it has to be mentioned. Also the music is very seamlessly mixed together at similar speeds.
KOST-FM 103.5 Los Angeles - In terms of imaging, not much was done in 2020 which is why I think it stuck out. Ellen K reads a statement saying how rough 2020 was and hopes KOST can help people find joy this Christmas season. All this while the Home Alone music plays in the background. She then has Santa “flip the switch.” It’s a pretty emotional segment which I thought was cool.
WBEB-FM 101.1 Philadelphia (2019) - This one’s my favorite (although I’m from here so I might be biased). B101 plays Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” and before the beat of the final hook kicks in, the music stutters to a stop and sleigh bells with suspenseful droning music plays. After that it’s the typical “Christmas is here” sound bites with Christmas songs edited together. I just thought it was a really creative way to make a suspenseful package. Especially factoring in that B101 kept it a surprise and didn’t specifically announce when they’d make the switch.
Any I missed? What are some of your favorite “flips” to Christmas music?
WLTW-FM 106.7 New York - News clips announce that Christmas is coming to New York and sound bites of locals reveling in how great Christmas in New York is with local references to the Rockettes at Radio City and skating at Rockerfeller all while the big band jazz break of Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper’s rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” plays in the background. It’s just so quintessentially New York that it has to be mentioned. Also the music is very seamlessly mixed together at similar speeds.
KOST-FM 103.5 Los Angeles - In terms of imaging, not much was done in 2020 which is why I think it stuck out. Ellen K reads a statement saying how rough 2020 was and hopes KOST can help people find joy this Christmas season. All this while the Home Alone music plays in the background. She then has Santa “flip the switch.” It’s a pretty emotional segment which I thought was cool.
WBEB-FM 101.1 Philadelphia (2019) - This one’s my favorite (although I’m from here so I might be biased). B101 plays Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” and before the beat of the final hook kicks in, the music stutters to a stop and sleigh bells with suspenseful droning music plays. After that it’s the typical “Christmas is here” sound bites with Christmas songs edited together. I just thought it was a really creative way to make a suspenseful package. Especially factoring in that B101 kept it a surprise and didn’t specifically announce when they’d make the switch.
Any I missed? What are some of your favorite “flips” to Christmas music?