The first all-Christmas station in our area
October 26, 2019If the Hallmark Channel starting the Christmas movies (each one the same, but the actors, titles, and problems are different) on October 25 hasn’t put you in the Christmas mood, then you’re probably not ready for Christmas music on the radio.
Yet, one station within our coverage area has taken the leap and will continue to celebrate the season for the remainder of the year. WWIZ (103.9 West Middlesex) has made the flip for the Youngstown, Ohio market.
In a release to Inside Radio, VP and Market Manager Bill Kelly said, “With everything going on in the Mahoning Valley and in the world these days, we felt we could all use a little more Christmas right now. Playing Christmas music this early in the season will get our listeners in the Valley into the holiday spirit even more this year.”
In a prior article, consultant Gary Berkowitz was quoted from his recent newsletter, “It will not get tired. Listeners love this time of year. Take advantage of that.” He also noted not to be politically correct and refer to it as “the holidays”. Berkowitz says to call it Christmas. Stations who have historically gone “all Christmas” in recent years have seen a major benefit to their ratings.
Meanwhile, ask the average listener on the street how they feel about it and they’ll tell you something like “If I start listening to Christmas music now, I’ll be tired of it by Christmas.” Really?
I heard Christmas music last week on 92.9-HD4. The problem is that their HD is not on all the time.
I guess there are people who would like it to be Christmas all the time. I like some of the movies, like Santa Buddies and my mom liked Christmas In Connecticut, so I’ll watch that one, or maybe a stop action special from Rankin-Bass, or Snoopy’s Christmas show. I see a few of those each year.
There’s a lot to do in our lives, and the media takes up our time with Christmas increasingly, making it not as special. A few weeks and then over would be a nicer way to take it I think.
I might have mentioned before, but I heard the beginnings of the format in the 1990s on AM 600 WSOM Salem Ohio, as station that ironically we could only get around Christmas. I think they did all Xmas music for a few weeks, then went to a month, and that was before any stations in Pittsburgh had made it a thing to be a Christmas station. Maybe that’s why a Youngstown station has picked it up.
As a young pup I remember stations adding holiday songs to their playlists which fit their format, but didn’t switch over completely to something all different. The new flexibility in radio I guess.
Boomer