Colorado Media Newsroom
November 15th, 2022, 03:54 PM
From Radio Insight:
In 2020, AC radio?s all-Christmas format grappled with a holiday like no other. (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/201272/what-will-christmas-2020-sound-like/) Programmers tried to keep the mood from being somber, but the references to smaller family dinners and hand sanitizer were still there. *
Last year, (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/214926/how-christmas-sounds-in-2021-so-far/) there were almost no references to life interrupted, but the feel of holiday radio was more sentimental. I noticed at the time that there was a greater emphasis on holiday memories in imaging and from the hosts.*
This year, based on listening to the first handful of Christmas radio flips, there?s a less sentimental and sometimes more whimsical approach. Imaging that emphasizes ?the lighter side of the holiday? had been common before COVID, and it was the thing I heard most in my holiday radio listening this week.
Each year, Ross on Radio looks at the early November flips to get a sense of how those stations differ, but also now to see what the format is reflecting as our national mood. Although the bulk of the first week launches were iHeart Media ACs and Classic Hits stations, I also listened to Audacy?s WTSS (Star 102.5) Buffalo, N.Y; New South?s WJKK (Mix 98.7) Jackson, Miss.; and Saga?s WSNY (Sunny 95) Columbus, Ohio.
As somebody who schedules Christmas music, (https://www.powergold.com/2020/12/02/what-i-learned-from-scheduling-christmas-music-sean-ross/) I?m listening for differences from previous years and among groups. Those are usually subtle now. The hits have been the established hits for many years. The influence of ?60s MOR is greater every year, although it was still attention-getting when easy-listening stalwarts Percy Faith and Ray Conniff played within a few songs of each other on iHeart format pioneer KESZ (99.9 KEZ) Phoenix.
A few early notes based on some admittedly random listening (to these stations and a handful of others). Wham-a-geddon came early, and I?m never particularly trying to avoid ?Last Christmas? anyway. ?All I Want for Christmas (Is You),? on the other hand, isn?t in any of these four monitors. Some of that is luck of the draw; it?s still a heavily played title. But stations are going deeper in Mariah Carey this year, meaning that you might as easily hear her doing ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)? or another title.
In the mid-?00s, I wrote a column complaining about how little R&B seemed to have made it on to the Christmas safe-list. (https://www.edisonresearch.com/so_this_is_chri/) That?s gotten better over the years, in part because of Carey. When I hear ?I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus? now, it?s more likely to be Jackson 5 than John Mellencamp. ?This Christmas,? the song that represents the holiday season for me, had been relegated to tertiary, and was more likely to be sung by Train, Christina Aguilera, or anybody else. This year, I heard the Donny Hathaway version as soon as I turned on WLIT (Lite 93.9) Chicago on its first day of holiday music.
It also happened that I heard the Jessica Simpson/Rosie O?Donnell version of ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree? on the first three stations I listened to. As our Lost Factor calculations take us into the 2000s, Simpson is heavily represented for big hits that you don?t hear anymore, (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/241125/lost-factor-2000-new-millennium-same-teen-backlash/) but after Halloween, she has a home on the radio. (It?s also interesting that Meghan Trainor, who has spent the last few years aggressively releasing new Christmas product for AC radio, now has her biggest CHR hit in years.)*
Here are four First Listens to Christmas radio:
KESZ (99.9 KEZ) Phoenix (https://kez999.iheart.com/schedule/)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/kezxmas.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1The sweeper says it all. ?Your parents listened to Christmas music on KEZ and so did you. And now you?re sharing that tradition with your kids.? Holiday music?s first success story was the first station I turned to this year, after the WLIT (Lite FM) Chicago launch.*
I liked a number of KEZ?s other sweepers, too. Some were funny/sharp and reminiscent of what you might hear on an iHeart CHR. (?It?s not really Christmas until I?ve [told the kids] ?I will take all your presents back.??)* There was a longer listener sweeper that declared, ?Holiday spirit around our house starts first with music.? After so many listener promos made up of random and not-so-authentic-sounding fragments, it was nice to hear an actual testimonial.
Here?s KESZ just before 10 a.m., November 7, with midday host Sara Jean:
Michael Bubl?, ?Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (2021)?*
Jessica Simpson, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
Mannheim Steamroller, ?Carol of the Bells?
Jimmy Eat World, ?Last Christmas?
Ronettes, ?Sleigh Ride?
Gene Autry, ?Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
Jordin Sparks, ?Do You Hear What I Hear??
Percy Faith & Orchestra, ?We Need a Little Christmas?
Mariah Carey, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
Martina McBride, ?Winter Wonderland?
Ray Conniff, ?Jingle Bells?
Jose Feliciano, ?Feliz Navidad?
Kimberly Locke, ?Frosty the Snowman?
Nat ?King? Cole, ?Deck the Halls?
Kelly Clarkson, ?Underneath the Tree?
Leroy Anderson, ?Sleigh Ride?
WJKK (Mix 98.7) Jackson, Miss. (https://mix987.com/)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/wjxxxmas.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1New South?s Mix 98.7 has one of AC radio?s most distinctive positioners, ?A Place to Call Home,? to which it has added ?for Christmas? since launching holiday music. Like KEZ, the holiday sweepers are jaunty, including several in the hour I heard devoted to ?dad jokes? (e.g., ?what do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinselitis?).*
Promotionally, Mix 98.7 felt like it had a lot going on. There was ?a grand in each hand? ? the text-to-win contest with $1,000 for you and $1,000 for a local charity. There was also a campaign to collect holiday cards from listeners for patients in local assisted-living facilities. Presentationally, the station usually carries John Tesh in middays, but was jockless when I heard it, with a number of sweepers from evening host Delilah as well as from advertisers and staffers.*
Here?s Mix 98.7 just before 11 a.m., November 7:
Brett Eldredge & Meghan Trainor, ?Baby, It?s Cold Outside?
Jackson 5, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
David Foster, ?Carol of the Bells?
Alabama, ?Christmas in Dixie?
Percy Faith & Orchestra, ?Deck the Halls?
Stevie Wonder, ?Someday at Christmas?
Wham!, ?Last Christmas?
Jessica Simpson, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
John Lennon, ?Happy X-Mas/War Is Over?
Harry Connick Jr., ?Sleigh Ride?
Mariah Carey, ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)?
Tony Bennett, ?I?ll Be Home for Christmas?
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, ?Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24?
Bing Crosby, ?Do You Hear What I Hear?
Air Supply, ?Winter Wonderland?
Amy Grant, ?Jingle Bell Rock?
Michael Bubl?, ?Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (2021)?*
Carpenters, ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
WTSS (Star 102.5) Buffalo, N.Y. (https://www.audacy.com/mystar1025)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/wtssxmas.png?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1The first two Audacy flips were WSPA (Magic 98.9) Greenville, S.C., (https://www.audacy.com/magic989)which we profiled last year, (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/214926/how-christmas-sounds-in-2021-so-far/) and Star 102.5, one of the few stations to make the segue from Hot AC. Star?s mix is reminiscent of nearby Canada?s somewhat more contemporary Christmas radio. Some sweepers promise ?Christmas Classics and Favorites From Today.? (In the promo I heard, the latter was represented by Taylor Swift?s ?Christmas Tree Farm.?) It also means that the sweepers and jingles have a hotter feel.
In previous years, Star 102.5 has had to compete with holiday music on WMSX (The Breeze). But this year, WMSX has gone in an opposite direction, becoming a much brighter AC in recent days.
We?ve talked a lot recently about the importance of personality now. One of the nice pluses of holiday music on Star 102.5 is hearing MD/morning host Rob Lucas, who advocates for and talks about the music in a way that you rarely hear on holiday formats. When he played Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper, he discussed how people often confuse it with Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett. Here?s Star 102.5 at 9:30 a.m., November 9:
Carpenters, ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
Vince Guaraldi, ?Linus and Lucy?
Barenaked Ladies f/Sarah McLachlan, ?God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?
Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
Paul McCartney, ?Wonderful Christmastime?
Stevie Wonder, ?What Christmas Means to Me?
Bing Crosby, ?White Christmas?
Burl Ives, ?A Holly Jolly Christmas?
Brenda Lee, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
Elmo & Patsy, ?Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?
Michael Bubl?, ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)?
David Foster, ?Carol of the Bells?
Amy Grant, ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
Jackson 5, ?Santa Claus Is Comin? to Town?
Frank Sinatra, ?Jingle Bells?
Ed Sheeran & Elton John, ?Merry Christmas?
Glee Cast, ?Last Christmas?*
WSNY (Sunny 95) Columbus, Ohio (https://sunny95.com/)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/wsnyxmas.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1Saga?s Sunny 95, ?Central Ohio?s home for Christmas,? also has sweepers emphasizing its 40 years in the AC format. Unlike Star 102.5, when its sweepers declare ?we love the classics,? there?s no ?and ? ? afterwards. In fact, the hour of WSNY I heard was the one that most lived in the era heard now on a Classic Hits station. (Sunny was also where I heard the first true signifier of Christmas, an ad for a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert.)
Here?s WSNY, starting with middayer Tiffany just before 3 p.m., November 9:
Bob Seger, ?Little Drummer Boy?
Nat ?King? Cole, ?The Christmas Song?
Martina McBride, ?Do You Hear What I Hear?
Burl Ives, ?A Holly Jolly Christmas?
Mariah Carey, ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)?
Ronettes, ?Sleigh Ride?
Taylor Swift, ?Last Christmas?
Brenda Lee, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
Jackson 5, ?I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus?
Johnny Mathis, ?It?s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas?
Bruce Springsteen, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
Beach Boys, ?Little Saint Nick?
Harry Connick, Jr., ?Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!?
Bing Crosby, ?We Wish You a Merry Christmas?
more (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/244944/in-2022-a-more-whimsical-christmas/)
In 2020, AC radio?s all-Christmas format grappled with a holiday like no other. (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/201272/what-will-christmas-2020-sound-like/) Programmers tried to keep the mood from being somber, but the references to smaller family dinners and hand sanitizer were still there. *
Last year, (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/214926/how-christmas-sounds-in-2021-so-far/) there were almost no references to life interrupted, but the feel of holiday radio was more sentimental. I noticed at the time that there was a greater emphasis on holiday memories in imaging and from the hosts.*
This year, based on listening to the first handful of Christmas radio flips, there?s a less sentimental and sometimes more whimsical approach. Imaging that emphasizes ?the lighter side of the holiday? had been common before COVID, and it was the thing I heard most in my holiday radio listening this week.
Each year, Ross on Radio looks at the early November flips to get a sense of how those stations differ, but also now to see what the format is reflecting as our national mood. Although the bulk of the first week launches were iHeart Media ACs and Classic Hits stations, I also listened to Audacy?s WTSS (Star 102.5) Buffalo, N.Y; New South?s WJKK (Mix 98.7) Jackson, Miss.; and Saga?s WSNY (Sunny 95) Columbus, Ohio.
As somebody who schedules Christmas music, (https://www.powergold.com/2020/12/02/what-i-learned-from-scheduling-christmas-music-sean-ross/) I?m listening for differences from previous years and among groups. Those are usually subtle now. The hits have been the established hits for many years. The influence of ?60s MOR is greater every year, although it was still attention-getting when easy-listening stalwarts Percy Faith and Ray Conniff played within a few songs of each other on iHeart format pioneer KESZ (99.9 KEZ) Phoenix.
A few early notes based on some admittedly random listening (to these stations and a handful of others). Wham-a-geddon came early, and I?m never particularly trying to avoid ?Last Christmas? anyway. ?All I Want for Christmas (Is You),? on the other hand, isn?t in any of these four monitors. Some of that is luck of the draw; it?s still a heavily played title. But stations are going deeper in Mariah Carey this year, meaning that you might as easily hear her doing ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)? or another title.
In the mid-?00s, I wrote a column complaining about how little R&B seemed to have made it on to the Christmas safe-list. (https://www.edisonresearch.com/so_this_is_chri/) That?s gotten better over the years, in part because of Carey. When I hear ?I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus? now, it?s more likely to be Jackson 5 than John Mellencamp. ?This Christmas,? the song that represents the holiday season for me, had been relegated to tertiary, and was more likely to be sung by Train, Christina Aguilera, or anybody else. This year, I heard the Donny Hathaway version as soon as I turned on WLIT (Lite 93.9) Chicago on its first day of holiday music.
It also happened that I heard the Jessica Simpson/Rosie O?Donnell version of ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree? on the first three stations I listened to. As our Lost Factor calculations take us into the 2000s, Simpson is heavily represented for big hits that you don?t hear anymore, (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/241125/lost-factor-2000-new-millennium-same-teen-backlash/) but after Halloween, she has a home on the radio. (It?s also interesting that Meghan Trainor, who has spent the last few years aggressively releasing new Christmas product for AC radio, now has her biggest CHR hit in years.)*
Here are four First Listens to Christmas radio:
KESZ (99.9 KEZ) Phoenix (https://kez999.iheart.com/schedule/)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/kezxmas.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1The sweeper says it all. ?Your parents listened to Christmas music on KEZ and so did you. And now you?re sharing that tradition with your kids.? Holiday music?s first success story was the first station I turned to this year, after the WLIT (Lite FM) Chicago launch.*
I liked a number of KEZ?s other sweepers, too. Some were funny/sharp and reminiscent of what you might hear on an iHeart CHR. (?It?s not really Christmas until I?ve [told the kids] ?I will take all your presents back.??)* There was a longer listener sweeper that declared, ?Holiday spirit around our house starts first with music.? After so many listener promos made up of random and not-so-authentic-sounding fragments, it was nice to hear an actual testimonial.
Here?s KESZ just before 10 a.m., November 7, with midday host Sara Jean:
Michael Bubl?, ?Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (2021)?*
Jessica Simpson, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
Mannheim Steamroller, ?Carol of the Bells?
Jimmy Eat World, ?Last Christmas?
Ronettes, ?Sleigh Ride?
Gene Autry, ?Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
Jordin Sparks, ?Do You Hear What I Hear??
Percy Faith & Orchestra, ?We Need a Little Christmas?
Mariah Carey, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
Martina McBride, ?Winter Wonderland?
Ray Conniff, ?Jingle Bells?
Jose Feliciano, ?Feliz Navidad?
Kimberly Locke, ?Frosty the Snowman?
Nat ?King? Cole, ?Deck the Halls?
Kelly Clarkson, ?Underneath the Tree?
Leroy Anderson, ?Sleigh Ride?
WJKK (Mix 98.7) Jackson, Miss. (https://mix987.com/)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/wjxxxmas.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1New South?s Mix 98.7 has one of AC radio?s most distinctive positioners, ?A Place to Call Home,? to which it has added ?for Christmas? since launching holiday music. Like KEZ, the holiday sweepers are jaunty, including several in the hour I heard devoted to ?dad jokes? (e.g., ?what do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinselitis?).*
Promotionally, Mix 98.7 felt like it had a lot going on. There was ?a grand in each hand? ? the text-to-win contest with $1,000 for you and $1,000 for a local charity. There was also a campaign to collect holiday cards from listeners for patients in local assisted-living facilities. Presentationally, the station usually carries John Tesh in middays, but was jockless when I heard it, with a number of sweepers from evening host Delilah as well as from advertisers and staffers.*
Here?s Mix 98.7 just before 11 a.m., November 7:
Brett Eldredge & Meghan Trainor, ?Baby, It?s Cold Outside?
Jackson 5, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
David Foster, ?Carol of the Bells?
Alabama, ?Christmas in Dixie?
Percy Faith & Orchestra, ?Deck the Halls?
Stevie Wonder, ?Someday at Christmas?
Wham!, ?Last Christmas?
Jessica Simpson, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
John Lennon, ?Happy X-Mas/War Is Over?
Harry Connick Jr., ?Sleigh Ride?
Mariah Carey, ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)?
Tony Bennett, ?I?ll Be Home for Christmas?
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, ?Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24?
Bing Crosby, ?Do You Hear What I Hear?
Air Supply, ?Winter Wonderland?
Amy Grant, ?Jingle Bell Rock?
Michael Bubl?, ?Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (2021)?*
Carpenters, ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
WTSS (Star 102.5) Buffalo, N.Y. (https://www.audacy.com/mystar1025)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/wtssxmas.png?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1The first two Audacy flips were WSPA (Magic 98.9) Greenville, S.C., (https://www.audacy.com/magic989)which we profiled last year, (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/214926/how-christmas-sounds-in-2021-so-far/) and Star 102.5, one of the few stations to make the segue from Hot AC. Star?s mix is reminiscent of nearby Canada?s somewhat more contemporary Christmas radio. Some sweepers promise ?Christmas Classics and Favorites From Today.? (In the promo I heard, the latter was represented by Taylor Swift?s ?Christmas Tree Farm.?) It also means that the sweepers and jingles have a hotter feel.
In previous years, Star 102.5 has had to compete with holiday music on WMSX (The Breeze). But this year, WMSX has gone in an opposite direction, becoming a much brighter AC in recent days.
We?ve talked a lot recently about the importance of personality now. One of the nice pluses of holiday music on Star 102.5 is hearing MD/morning host Rob Lucas, who advocates for and talks about the music in a way that you rarely hear on holiday formats. When he played Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper, he discussed how people often confuse it with Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett. Here?s Star 102.5 at 9:30 a.m., November 9:
Carpenters, ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
Vince Guaraldi, ?Linus and Lucy?
Barenaked Ladies f/Sarah McLachlan, ?God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?
Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
Paul McCartney, ?Wonderful Christmastime?
Stevie Wonder, ?What Christmas Means to Me?
Bing Crosby, ?White Christmas?
Burl Ives, ?A Holly Jolly Christmas?
Brenda Lee, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
Elmo & Patsy, ?Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?
Michael Bubl?, ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)?
David Foster, ?Carol of the Bells?
Amy Grant, ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
Jackson 5, ?Santa Claus Is Comin? to Town?
Frank Sinatra, ?Jingle Bells?
Ed Sheeran & Elton John, ?Merry Christmas?
Glee Cast, ?Last Christmas?*
WSNY (Sunny 95) Columbus, Ohio (https://sunny95.com/)https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2022/11/wsnyxmas.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1Saga?s Sunny 95, ?Central Ohio?s home for Christmas,? also has sweepers emphasizing its 40 years in the AC format. Unlike Star 102.5, when its sweepers declare ?we love the classics,? there?s no ?and ? ? afterwards. In fact, the hour of WSNY I heard was the one that most lived in the era heard now on a Classic Hits station. (Sunny was also where I heard the first true signifier of Christmas, an ad for a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert.)
Here?s WSNY, starting with middayer Tiffany just before 3 p.m., November 9:
Bob Seger, ?Little Drummer Boy?
Nat ?King? Cole, ?The Christmas Song?
Martina McBride, ?Do You Hear What I Hear?
Burl Ives, ?A Holly Jolly Christmas?
Mariah Carey, ?Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)?
Ronettes, ?Sleigh Ride?
Taylor Swift, ?Last Christmas?
Brenda Lee, ?Rockin? Around the Christmas Tree?
Jackson 5, ?I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus?
Johnny Mathis, ?It?s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas?
Bruce Springsteen, ?Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?
Beach Boys, ?Little Saint Nick?
Harry Connick, Jr., ?Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!?
Bing Crosby, ?We Wish You a Merry Christmas?
more (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/244944/in-2022-a-more-whimsical-christmas/)