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Late 2023 Christmas Music and Format Watch

T

tblanks

As we head into last week of October 2023, wanted to start a new thread on Christmas flips and other possible changes on the Cleveland/Akron radio dial.

My predictions:

Star flips to Christmas second week of November, Majic flips the third week of that month.
The Fish probably flips just after Thanksgiving.

I don't see any format changes in late 2023/early 2024 but possibly a few tweaks.
WAKR may start adding more 90's for a minor tweak, but stay soft.
I can see one station starting a "2k to Now" format, focusing on music of the 00's and 10's. Most likely candidates are WHBC/FM or WKDD.
These are all just guesses, anyone else have some guesses/thoughts?
 
vjm said:
That's exactly what 107.3 did when they were "Jeny", and that didn't last too long.

Q 104 is basically doing that now.
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JenY was more focused on new music, perhaps too focused, when it should have played more 90s and 2k gold to mix in.

Q104 sounds a lot better now after the tweak. So does Star 102.

I have noticed more pop and rhythmic songs on 102 and also 106.5 The Lake such as Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" and Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack." I think that may continue in '24.
 
I bet WMJI flips on Friday Nov 10th. They always seem to do it right around that time every year. Thanksgiving is earlier in the month in 2023. WDOK won't be far behind and probably the Fish right after Thanksgiving goes all Christmas. Either way I'll tune in for a bit here and there. I do enjoy the wailing and gnashing of teeth that occurs on social media every year about it. No worries folks you'll get your 10-15 plays of Billy Joel's Piano Man starting Dec 26th again.
 
skiwest said:
Can't wait to hear Mariah Carey every 15 minutes.
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Nobody should torture themselves like that. Although as I said there are some stations non Christmas music that feel we need to hear the same 20 songs 12 months out of the year. One of the reasons I am glad I have other opportunities now that I didn't have 30 years ago.
 
I seem to denote a lot of "Grinches" when it comes to Christmas music. What would Christmas be without Alvin and the Chipmunks, Snoopy and the Red Baron. Carpenter's Merry Christmas Darling and "Der Bingle" with White Christmas.

The season is almost here! 🎅
 
The Diamond said:
I seem to denote a lot of "Grinches" when it comes to Christmas music. What would Christmas be without Alvin and the Chipmunks, Snoopy and the Red Baron. Carpenter's Merry Christmas Darling and "Der Bingle" with White Christmas.

The season is almost here! 🎅
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And that's what I've complained about within the last decade. No one plays those novelty or original Christmas songs anymore, making the variety and nostalgia bland. The ones that they do play them are extremely limited when it comes to airplay. Once iHeart took control of their Christmas music, it's been the same piped-in playlist on all of their stations, song after song. The only thing that's different between their stations are the local inserts and air checks (if any). Gone are the days when one iHeart station had their own personalized playlist compared to another in an adjacent market, and it was nice when they played something that was produced by a local personality for that extra charm. Boofo Goes Where Santa Goes anybody?
 
If we could just get another 5 or 6 artists to do their renditions of "All I want For Christmas" in formats not as obnoxious as Mariah Carey's "look at me, I can sing notes only dogs can hear" version, she wouldn't be in rotation as much.

And long live Porky Pig's Blue Christmas!
 
thenetwork said:
If we could just get another 5 or 6 artists to do their renditions of "All I want For Christmas" in formats not as obnoxious as Mariah Carey's "look at me, I can sing notes only dogs can hear" version, she wouldn't be in rotation as much.
Click to expand...

How about this one, by country singer Jon Pardi, on his Christmas album just released today?
 
thenetwork said:
If we could just get another 5 or 6 artists to do their renditions of "All I want For Christmas" in formats not as obnoxious as Mariah Carey's "look at me, I can sing notes only dogs can hear" version, she wouldn't be in rotation as much.

And long live Porky Pig's Blue Christmas!
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I've always found this cover more pleasing to listen to. It's essentially the Mariah Carey version but without hitting those high notes.
 
The Diamond said:
I seem to denote a lot of "Grinches" when it comes to Christmas music. What would Christmas be without Alvin and the Chipmunks, Snoopy and the Red Baron. Carpenter's Merry Christmas Darling and "Der Bingle" with White Christmas.

The season is almost here! 🎅
Click to expand...
I don't get the complaining about Christmas music on the radio. Just put on a different station WMJI and WMVX are similar playlists. WDOK plays Christmas music put on WQAL or Soft Hits 93.5. Some act like they are being forced to listen to it. I don't listen to it all that much but I'll tune in every now and then for about 15-20 mins if I am in the car. I prefer the Fish's Christmas music cause they include a much wider variety of songs. There are real problems in this world and a station going all Christmas is not one of them.
 
CleveRadioInsider said:
There are real problems in this world and a station going all Christmas is not one of them.
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I get that, but you're on a forum for Cleveland radio, which hasn't seen any real changes since 107.3 The Wave got nuked for jenY 107.3 and then ALTCLE after that. Nearly everything else has been stagnant since around 2012, when Soft Rock 102.1 became The New 102. Remember things like 92.3's seemingly annual format changes or the big frequency swap of July 2001?

We don't have anything else to talk about except who's flipping to Christmas and when. Also, if they're doing it this year, I'd fully expect Star 102's flip to Christmas music to coincide with the IX Christmas Connection, and for Fox 8 to be there televising their change... Unless a freak snowstorm breaks out that morning and they ship Kenny Crumpton to Southpark Mall to hang out by the BP station to broadcast from Strongsville as part of SNOW WATCH (*dun dun dunnnn*).
 
Mega no worries it wasn't meant for the forum or anyone here. Discussing it here is fine. I should have clarified for social media in general. I've never understood the rage. Like I said I enjoy the Christmas music in small doses here and there. I'll listen more as we approach it but the overplayed Christmas songs I only hear at most 7-8 weeks a year. How many times do I have to hear Piano Man, Carry on Wayward son, Kashimir, Sweet Home Alabama and other rock songs that the heritage stations play 10 times a day?
 
thenetwork said:
If we could just get another 5 or 6 artists to do their renditions of "All I want For Christmas" in formats not as obnoxious as Mariah Carey's "look at me, I can sing notes only dogs can hear" version, she wouldn't be in rotation as much.
Click to expand...
I have to turn my radio off when I start to hear it. All those flimsy glass ornaments on my tree explode and the plastic ones start melting.
 
thenetwork said:
If we could just get another 5 or 6 artists to do their renditions of "All I want For Christmas" in formats not as obnoxious as Mariah Carey's "look at me, I can sing notes only dogs can hear" version, she wouldn't be in rotation as much.

And long live Porky Pig's Blue Christmas!
Click to expand...
Well, Mariah will be in Cleveland for those who love her holiday versions:

www.cleveland19.com

Mariah Carey announces Cleveland tour date

Multi-time Grammy Award winning artist Mariah Carey announced on Monday she will be stopping in Cleveland in time for the holidays.
www.cleveland19.com www.cleveland19.com
 
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