When is it too early for Christmas music?

CTListener said:

Has any other generation had as inflated an opinion of its era's popular music than mine? It really is embarrassing. When I turned 55 and realized that I was STILL hearing songs on the radio that I was hearing when I was 11, my first reaction was to shake my head in disbelief, not to marvel at what great, timeless art that "I'm a Believer," "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "96 Tears" represented. That somehow, the teens of 2010 should be expected to appreciate such music struck me as a ridiculous notion. They had their own music. Styles had changed. If 44 years down the road, there were radio stations still playing the Four Tops and ? and the Mysterians, why wouldn't there be stations in 2054 still playing Taylor Swift and whatever one-hit wonder of today you could name?

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It has never bothered me, and I just turned 56 last week. "I'm a Believer," which you mentioned, got covered by Smashmouth about 20 years or so ago. I don't particularly like their version, but it shows that there is still life left in the song.

The post may not exactly fit the topic but I have posted my 'favorite Christmas stations' nearly every year on this thread. So far, KNBZ Redfield, SD (Sunny 97.7), and KKRB Klamath Falls (Sunny 107) are my favorites, with WQPW Valdosta and semi-local KARY Yakima not too far behind either.

KNBZ is locally-ran (not satellite), and the format is very wide. Today they played just about everything - Mariah Carey and Gloria Estefan, Jimmy Buffett's 'Run Run Rudolph' (off the Christmas Island CD); Ruben Studdard's cover of 'This Christmas' (season 2 American Idol winner), Diana Krall covers, Xscape's 'Christmas Without You' and even Peter White's beautiful instrumental version of Greensleeves. An Adult Contemporary turned-Christmas playing songs by Diana Krall. Not bad for South Dakota!

Of course, KKRB has the wide playlist they always have. Haven't heard the Ren & Stimpy novelty cut yet, but they ran a song last night (after midnight) I've never heard before - Stephanie Mills' "It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas Without You" from 1991. I didn't know she made a holiday album. Also, had no idea Brenda Lee released a holiday album in the '90s - as I heard 'Go Tell it on The Mountain' and found out it also was from 1991.

KZTP Sibley IA, another dependable station for a wide holiday playlist, has stuck with the usual Top 40 this season. And I don't think KVGQ (Da Bomb) flipped either. But come Christmas Eve, I'll be rolling tape on WSBZ, the Seabreeze in Fort Walton Beach, since they have a day or two of all holiday Smooth Jazz at that point.

Two weeks before Christmas should be the standard go-all-Santa-FM time. 2 1/2 at the absolute most. Any sooner than that is too early.

oldradiotapes said:

Two weeks before Christmas should be the standard go-all-Santa-FM time. 2 1/2 at the absolute most. Any sooner than that is too early.

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Keep that in mind when you buy a radio station. When that happens, you'll discover why that's too late.

It never stopped stations in decades past. Most I used to hear would gradually phase it in in small amounts until a couple weeks before christmas. No reason why they can't today. What passes as KKCW started milking it at the beginning of bleeding November. Too much too soon. They also play that stupid Grinch song that really has no place in a library supposedly festive and uplifting. But maybe either my own standards are just incompatible with today's stereotypically tawdry Average American taste, or maybe it's just the stubborn, crotchety old PD in me.

If I ever bought a radio station, it'd probably be an IFart station (like today's sorry excuse for what used to be KKCW) with the specific purpose of shutting it down.

oldradiotapes said:

But maybe either my own standards are just incompatible with today's tawdry Average American taste, or maybe it's just the stubborn, crotchety old PD in me.

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Probably both. The fact is stores start merchandising Christmas sales in October. Some radio stations started playing Christmas music then. That may be a little early. But by the first week of November, the stores are in full Christmas mode. If you have any hope of attracting them as advertisers, you need to be on their side. If, as a listener, that's too soon for you, then you use the tool that was given to all radio owners for such an issue: The on/off button. That's how you solve that problem. But don't expect radio stations to lose money because of your personal taste in music.

Mix 92.9 started sometime around Veterans' Day this year, my best guess. I tuned in on the Saturday after Veterans' Day, and heard the Christmas music already playing. Ordinarily, they do a preview on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, but they jumped the gun this year. I don't think that even The Fish started that early. Classic hits 93.3 is sticking with their usual format this year.

I would complain about Mix 92.9, but the Christmas music is actually BETTER than what they play over the rest of the year!

WHVN in Charlotte has been mixing in Christmas music today. This is the first day I've been able to listen since it doesn't stream, which is a shame because this is the best station there is. No one seems to know why they would do this, but after being off the air for seven months, it came back with standards. Not soft adult contemporary music with a few standards mixed in, but standards with a few soft adult contemporary tunes mixed in. The station that had this music collection and still used it two years ago was sold to Billy Graham along with its translator, and WHVN's translator. That station raised funds for music royalties and succeeded every year until the last one.

The stress from the Covid pandemic has made early holiday music an inevitable event. It's comfort food for millions of depressed Americans. A 56-year-old cartoon called Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer got 5.6 million viewers on CBS and tied The Bachelorette on ABC for top show last Tuesday. A combined 10 million viewers were watching any of the 8PM holiday specials on ABC/NBC/CBS on 11/27 (Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman). And Hallmark has showed Christmas movies since the third week of October! No matter the rise in cases, deaths or extensions of shutdowns, people want some type of holiday normalcy. Especially women...

oldradiotapes said:

It never stopped stations in decades past. Most I used to hear would gradually phase it in in small amounts until a couple weeks before christmas. No reason why they can't today. What passes as KKCW started milking it at the beginning of bleeding November. Too much too soon. They also play that stupid Grinch song that really has no place in a library supposedly festive and uplifting. But maybe either my own standards are just incompatible with today's stereotypically tawdry Average American taste, or maybe it's just the stubborn, crotchety old PD in me.

If I ever bought a radio station, it'd probably be an IFart station (like today's sorry excuse for what used to be KKCW) with the specific purpose of shutting it down.

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Times change. Tastes change. Expectations change. Being firmly unwilling to evolve is a choice, but not a smart one from a business standpoint.

Another new one for me - this time on my local Cherry FM in Yakima...
I had no idea Cary Grant recorded a holiday song, one called 'Christmas Lullaby.' It was made for his daughter Jennifer when he finally became a father with Dyan Cannon. Cherry really skews traditional with the holiday music - more 1950s-1960s than anything else, but the Lullaby was heard the other day when I had to go into Yakima to help a family member with something.

As we get closer to Christmas, I noticed KZTP Sibley IA had flipped recently to The Christmas Party. I thought they had been sticking to the normal format. They play the traditional, the pop standards, and the obscure. Tonight in a short time span I heard Toby Keith's Little Drummer Boy, way out of format for them, a brand new cover of 'Go Tell it On the Mountain' by High Valley, a Canadian country duo, and Barry Manilow's 'Ave Maria'.

Another one that I enjoy is KGAF-1580 (92.3 translator) in Gainesville, TX, operated by longtime PD/DJ Steve Eberhart as a full-service classic hits station. They flip around the 18th or 19th each year, much later than most FMs. The last couple days I have heard Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' duet 'I'll Be Home with Bells On'. Love their music. Also: Norman Brown's smooth jazz cover of Linus & Lucy, holiday songs by The Osmonds, and an Olivia Newton-John cover of The First Noel that I really enjoyed. Very freeform...and I'm glad somebody like Steve Eberhart still loves what he does. A great example of small-town radio.

A couple days from now I'll be wrapping gifts to the sounds of the smooth jazz Christmas on the Seabreeze WSBZ...always fun.

The Seabreeze has been great as always this Christmas. Mostly instrumental smooth jazz with a few smooth vocal holiday songs. Meanwhile, KOZI Chelan, which I can pick up fairly here in Ellensburg, has been running Christmas music tonight but it's all traditional and religious, as it often is on Christmas Eve. Albeit I remember hearing some of the same songs at the *same* timeslots last year...so I wonder if they are running a tape or disc? There are periodic IDs. Earlier they had a radio 'play' of A Christmas Carol.
This is the one time of year that I enjoy because so many small-town stations and country stations go Christmas for just 24-36 hours or so around the holiday.

For me, it's okay to play Christmas music after Thanksgiving

Every year I update the 'favorite Christmas stations' list, and there have been some changes...

The trend...everywhere...is Pentatonix beatboxing every 2 hours or so. Sure, they may be talented, but they are getting to be as common as Mariah Carey on the Christmas format. They aren't really my favorites, I'm sorry to say.

Locally, 100.9 KARY still has a traditional-leaning playlist, with some modern stuff mixed in (and some modern 'crud' as well - Meghan Trainor and freakin' Sia...). Bobby Darin's Xmas Auld Lang Syne, 'Aspenglow' John Denver, and at least one or two Sammy Davis Jr. songs have been the highlights so far.

Outside of Washington, I've been satisfied for the umpteenth year in a row with 95.7 the (Christmas) Mix, WQPW in Valdosta, GA. Their playlist is top-notch and contains everything from country crossover to Latin Project remixes of original songs, the standards, Gloria Estefan, and even selections from Doc Severinsen's Christmas album with the Tonight Show band all those years ago.
Another great Christmas station is just across the border in Idaho - Hits 104.7 (K284BW) in Moscow ID. Very broad-based - Peabo Bryson, 98 Degrees, *Chris Isaak (!)*, even Reba McEntire holiday tunes. You won't hear Mariah Carey every 90 minutes here. I've also been impressed with KSRA-960 in Salmon ID, a very small town near the MT border that has a stream online. All Christmas with the bulk of it being traditional holiday songs and classic country holiday songs.

My final tradition (outside of wrapping gifts) occurs on Christmas Eve when I hit record on WSBZ F.W.B. for another sample of 'A Smooth Jazz Christmas,' what a GREAT selection it is! There's a song I heard last year called 'The Joy of Christmas' by Cat Levan, a Canadian vocalist. I can listen to that song on repeat, a gorgeous holiday tune released last year.

crainbebo said:

Every year I update the 'favorite Christmas stations' list, and there have been some changes...

The trend...everywhere...is Pentatonix beatboxing every 2 hours or so. Sure, they may be talented, but they are getting to be as common as Mariah Carey on the Christmas format. They aren't really my favorites, I'm sorry to say.

Locally, 100.9 KARY still has a traditional-leaning playlist, with some modern stuff mixed in (and some modern 'crud' as well - Meghan Trainor and freakin' Sia...). Bobby Darin's Xmas Auld Lang Syne, 'Aspenglow' John Denver, and at least one or two Sammy Davis Jr. songs have been the highlights so far.

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I never liked Pentatonix or Mariah Carey.

I haven't heard Sammy Davis Jr. anywhere yet. Or John Denver. I like his Muppets song.

I can't believe I didn't hear the Chipmunks until yesterday and that was on Good Time Oldies which still hasn't gone all-Christmas.

Sammy's song 'It's Christmas Time All Over the World' is underrated and a delight, with a children's choir singing Christmas greetings in many different languages. But alas, it won't catch on with the general 30-something female soccer mom Xmas music fan.

crainbebo said:

Sammy's song 'It's Christmas Time All Over the World' is underrated and a delight, with a children's choir singing Christmas greetings in many different languages. But alas, it won't catch on with the general 30-something female soccer mom Xmas music fan.

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I first heard it on my parents' Album Five (whatever that is), which I still have.

Given that retail advertising makes up the majority (and in some cases, the vast majority) of revenues for most music-formatted stations, I can see retail advertisers and their ad agencies exerting big-time pressure on radio this year (2022) to start programming Christmas music earlier than in the past and to persuade more stations to go all-Christmas.

Retailers and their ad agencies would have good reasons to persuade/pressure radio to start all-Christmas formats earlier than in previous years: They may be afraid of a disastrous Holiday shopping season given the war in Ukraine, high inflation, fears of a major global recession, continuing fallout over Covid-19 and fears of major outbreaks of flu as well as RSV and maybe even measles among children, possible energy shortages (especially home heating oil here in New England), a brutally nasty midterm election campaign, and general uneasiness. With all that going on, retailers might be running scared. And if they are running scared, they might tell radio to start pumping Christmas music earlier and on more stations than in the past. One effect of Christmas music on radio is to subconsciously tell listeners to "Get your Christmas shopping done!".

Although some think the big wave of all-Christmas flips might not come until two weeks from today (which will be Wednesday, November 9th, the day after the midterm elections), I don't think the industry will want to wait that long.

Last year (2021), most I-Heart stations that flipped to 24/7 Christmas music did so on the first Friday of November (which was November 5th). If the company were to again flip most or all of their stations that will go all-Christmas on the first Friday of November this year, it would be November 4th----four days before the midterms.

But I wouldn't be surprised that if I-Heart again has a coordinated flip of stations to all-Christmas formats, and that every I-Heart station going all-Christmas does so at the same time, and that the time may be a few days earlier than 2021: This coming Tuesday, November 1st.

This may trigger stations owned by other companies in markets that have an I-Heart-owned all-Christmas stations that plan to go all-Christmas to do so ASAP after the I-Heart station does so. As an example, let's say that in Market "X", both I-Heart's WYY and Audacy's WZZ plan to go all-Christmas at some point during the season.

Furthermore, let's assume that WYY, along with nearly 90 other I-Heart stations (that's the number of I-Heart stations that took part in last year's coordinated flip), takes the plunge at 9 A.M. local time on November 1st. WZZ, finding out at 9:01 A.M. that they were "beaten to the punch", probably wouldn't wait until whatever day and time they planned to flip. WZZ would probably follow suit within minutes. So within a stretch of less than ten minutes, probably less than five minutes, Market "X" has two all-Christmas stations programmed Holiday music for 55 days.

Even if WYY's flip were later than November 1st, WZZ would quickly follow if WYY was first. If WZZ was first, WYY would follow quickly. This pattern has played itself out in markets with multiple all-Christmas stations. And this year, for the reasons I outlined in the first two paragraphs of my response, I think you may see multiple all-Christmas stations this year in just about every medium, large, and major market.

As for concerns some have about political ads (especially attack ads) sharing the airwaves of the same station with Christmas music: Most political advertising on radio seems to go to all-news, news/talk, or all-talk stations (although with so much money being spent on political ads this year, some nasty attack ads could appear on music stations), so I doubt that Christmas music would be interspersed with political ads during the first week of November in most areas.