• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

CHRISTMAS

C

caj012885

Guest
ho! ho! ho! It's that time of year! what is the information on Christmas music flips and when?
 
I guess that 101 The Rose is the only local station to do this anymore? Or am I missing someone?
 
101 the Rose, who used to make a big deal about celebrating "1 Holiday at a time" changed their mind last year and entered the Christmas scene much earlier than they needed to. Other than WDAC which focuses on Christmas hymns only, there was no other full time Christmas station. Hopefully they will not feel the need to jump any earlier than Thanksgiving.
 
Most people, even most radio people, don't understand that if you are going to flip format to all-Christmas, you must do it early enough to have an effect on the Fall book. If you flip Black Friday. that is less than 2 weeks to influence diaries. It is different in the PPM markets where they actually have a so-called "Holiday Book" which is the month of December. Many stations have had big ratings bonanzas with all-Christmas music programming in diary markets, but those stations flip no later than the second or third week of November. If you are not doing it for ratings, don't bother !!! It's too risky. You can safely go all-Christmas Christmas Eve or a few days before, if you feel you must. All-Christmas is not for the faint of heart or uncommitted, but the payoff can be monstrous.

Interestingly, we may see the end of all-Christmas programming in the diary markets in the next year or two. Arbitron has been moving the end of the fall book back earlier and earlier. Used to be the last day would be December 12-13-14. This year, the last day is December 5th, next year the 4th, etc. This makes it harder to influence the fall book with Christmas music. Not sure why they are doing. One person told me it was to make the fall book end at the end of November so it lines up with the beginning of the PPM Holiday Book.
 
RockofHBG said:
Most people, even most radio people, don't understand that if you are going to flip format to all-Christmas, you must do it early enough to have an effect on the Fall book. If you flip Black Friday. that is less than 2 weeks to influence diaries. It is different in the PPM markets where they actually have a so-called "Holiday Book" which is the month of December. Many stations have had big ratings bonanzas with all-Christmas music programming in diary markets, but those stations flip no later than the second or third week of November. If you are not doing it for ratings, don't bother !!! It's too risky. You can safely go all-Christmas Christmas Eve or a few days before, if you feel you must. All-Christmas is not for the faint of heart or uncommitted, but the payoff can be monstrous.

Interestingly, we may see the end of all-Christmas programming in the diary markets in the next year or two. Arbitron has been moving the end of the fall book back earlier and earlier. Used to be the last day would be December 12-13-14. This year, the last day is December 5th, next year the 4th, etc. This makes it harder to influence the fall book with Christmas music. Not sure why they are doing. One person told me it was to make the fall book end at the end of November so it lines up with the beginning of the PPM Holiday Book.
Click to expand...

You are correct in you assessment regarding going "early." Interesting regarding the fall diary book. If you can't influence it, then stations may continue to do it for the added revenue in December. Stations could wait til Black Friday then.
 
The Rose going all Christmas is OK, but if you are going to do it, please PLEASE, have a wide variety! Everyone became predictable last year. It was as if they only had a few tracks available. With the large amount of music recorded over the years, there should be a huge variety of songs. I don't care if it's traditional or sacred (hymns) or a mix of both. Christmas is to be a joyful time, we only get to play the music for a month, and get rid of Grand Ma Gotr Run Over by a Reindeer. That is the most worthless song ever written. Think of it, I don't know, but my grandparents were neither drinkers, took excessive medications, or dirty minded. It has no place on my playlist!
 
RadioChief said:
The Rose going all Christmas is OK, but if you are going to do it, please PLEASE, have a wide variety! Everyone became predictable last year. It was as if they only had a few tracks available. With the large amount of music recorded over the years, there should be a huge variety of songs. I don't care if it's traditional or sacred (hymns) or a mix of both. Christmas is to be a joyful time, we only get to play the music for a month, and get rid of Grand Ma Gotr Run Over by a Reindeer. That is the most worthless song ever written. Think of it, I don't know, but my grandparents were neither drinkers, took excessive medications, or dirty minded. It has no place on my playlist!
Click to expand...

Recent research says the worst Christmas song is the Singing Dog Jingle Bells. But Grandmas is on that top 10 list.

Much like any radio format, you win by playing the hits. There are probably really around 50 Christmas songs that matter and they're the ones you hear the most often. The stations that win stay traditional; if you're lucky on average about one or two new songs catch on each year to garner airplay in later years. Some years none do. Not all versions of the same song are equal either.
 
The Rose going all Christmas is OK, but if you are going to do it, please PLEASE, have a wide variety!
Click to expand...

There is a new Christmas test this year. A number of stations around the country chipped in to field a national sample Those who bought the test get access to the scores as well as their local breakout as a certain number in the sample come from the participant's local market. This is the first test of it's kind in 5-7 years. Since the advent of Christmas music testing, the all-Christmas music format has homogenized across the country. Prior to, every station just kind of blindly did their own thing. If you listen to various stations, you'll probably notice a few new versions and titles this year,
 
Who the heck is in charge of programming over there? I am already beginning to hear repeats. In fact, it almost seems like at the same time everyday, the same playlist. ::)
 
I am already beginning to hear repeats. In fact, it almost seems like at the same time everyday, the same playlist
Click to expand...

Successful all-Christmas stations perform well in the ratings by playing the highest scoring songs more often, just like with any other successful music format. Most all-Christmas formats employe 3-5 categories, with the highest rotation being 3-5 hours. Remember, it's only 5-6 weeks this format is on the air and although people listen longer to this format than most others, not all that much longer. If you played "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby only once a day, the average listener would never hear it. Is it smart to slow down repetition just so you can air mediocre versions of Christmas classics instead? Or play unfamiliar Christmas songs just to slow rotations? I think not....

If the same songs are coming up in the exact same order during the same time of day, then that is the fault of whoever is scheduling music logs.
 
Rose is doing a GREAT job like every year. It is very up beat modern Christmas with a few classics. If you want to hear how not to program Christmas music, turn on Holly on Sirius/XM. Very boring and blah. As far as hearing repeats, of coarse there going to play a few of the most popular ones. I am a HUGE fan of Transiberian Orchestra, I would hope that of they play them at 9 am, they would play them through out the day, for those of us that have a job in the mornings. Great job Hall, enjoy your ratings boost, you deserve it.
 
Thanks PaRadioGuy. RockofHbg is correct on song rotations, by the way. And, just for the record, we DO use listener input quite a bit in determining songs that make our playlist. We do not base decisions solely on what tests well nationwide. What you are hearing is based on feedback from weeks of online music testing. We advertised extensively for weeks, asking listeners to give their input.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom