There are actually a good number of stations across the country that are playing Christmas music through New Year's (or maybe December 30th) this year. To name a few, Sunny 99.1 in Houston, KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles, and K103 in Portland.
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Stations Playing Christmas Music through New Year's Eve/Day
- Thread starter marce90
- Start date
There are actually a good number of stations across the country that are playing Christmas music through New Year's (or maybe December 30th) this year. To name a few, Sunny 99.1 in Houston, KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles, and K103 in Portland.
And it's not a Christmas song belonging on holiday playlists for that one tangential reference.
No, but it was on many such playlists for a long time, as was another non-Christmas soft-rock tune, Jim Croce's "It Doesn't Have to Be That Way," in which poor, lonesome Jim is a walking a city street sometime around Christmas wishing he could "get it together tonight" with his ex. Not exactly the old yuletide spirit, despite the presence of tinsel and Santa and those bells at the end.
All of which are iHeart stations. Coincidence? Maybe.
B 98.5 in Little Rock is a Cumulus station still playing Christmas music, but I'm not sure how long they are going to keep playing it for.
But WMAG went back to regular "music".
So did WMXC (Mix 99.9) in Mobile. There are only 4 stations that I'm aware of that are still playing Christmas music. KODA (Sunny 99.1) in Houston, KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles, KKCW (K103) in Portland, and KQXT (Q 101.9) in San Antonio. I expect they will all return to their regular formats by January 1st.
And it's not a Christmas song belonging on holiday playlists for that one tangential reference.
Yeah, the year that it was a hit (1980--->1981), it was still on the charts until Feb. of that year ('81).
Billy Joel's "She's Right On Time" has a Christmas-themed music video. Somehow that is enough to make it a "Christmas" song.
It's all about ratings
I found something really interesting in regards to the topic of this thread so I felt the need to come back to it. Once again there are a handful of stations in 2019 that are extending Christmas music past Christmas Day. 93.9 Lite FM in Chicago did NOT choose to do so this year, so I was scrolling through their Facebook comments to see what listeners were saying about it, and I found a reply from one of their program directors that explained exactly why they are so reluctant to play Christmas music after Christmas. He said:
"Thanks for the feedback. We've tried ending it many different ways over the years. One year we went all the way to New Years Eve. BUT we have found that while there are some people who want us to keep playing it, a surprising majority do not listen for Christmas music after the big day. Our ratings are not as strong when we keep it going. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but since many people are asking, I want to be honest about why it happens like this. Thank you for listening and hope you had a wonderful Christmas!"
So I guess we know exactly why now.
I found something really interesting in regards to the topic of this thread so I felt the need to come back to it. Once again there are a handful of stations in 2019 that are extending Christmas music past Christmas Day. 93.9 Lite FM in Chicago did NOT choose to do so this year, so I was scrolling through their Facebook comments to see what listeners were saying about it, and I found a reply from one of their program directors that explained exactly why they are so reluctant to play Christmas music after Christmas. He said:
"Thanks for the feedback. We've tried ending it many different ways over the years. One year we went all the way to New Years Eve. BUT we have found that while there are some people who want us to keep playing it, a surprising majority do not listen for Christmas music after the big day. Our ratings are not as strong when we keep it going. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but since many people are asking, I want to be honest about why it happens like this. Thank you for listening and hope you had a wonderful Christmas!"
So I guess we know exactly why now.
KKCW Portland is the only Christmas station left around here. I actually heard my local 100.9 Cherry flip back to Classic Hits at 12AM on 12/26. 'The Christmas Song' by The Carpenters went into the station ID, and right into Wham's 'Careless Whisper.' It's nice to have regular music back after a month or more of holiday stuff.
And WMYI Greenville SC has abandoned us. We Play Anything.
Sunny 99.1 in Houston stayed with Christmas music through the Sunday after.
Magic 99.5 is still all-Christmas, and it’s New Year’s Day! However, they will go back to regular programming on Monday.
In Albuquerque, by the way.
Music Choice Sounds of the Seasons (available on Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox, Verizon, DirecTV, etc.) will air Christmas music on that channel through January 6, before switching to "The Pulse" on the 7th.
Philly still has The Christmas Breeze.
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