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Seems every year, there’s (usually wrong!) predictions of things like who will be the first station to flip to Christmas Music, when K103 will flip, and if any stations will use such a format before debuting a new one.
The Master of Disaster’s speculation: Wednesday, Nov. 12th, 12 Noon. With snow in the forecast for the Gorge and possible wintry weather for the Portland Metro Area, why not get everyone in a better mood somehow?
K103 is having a contest.
“The biggest secret at K103 every year is when will we flip the switch and start playing nothing but Christmas and Holiday music? Last year we were teased with Christmas previews but that doesn’t count! If you can guess the exact day and time that K103 goes Christmas, you could win a $500 Bi-Mart shopping spree! Get ready for your holiday season for less at Bi-Mart.”
Read more: http://www.k103.com/contests/bimart-countdown-to-christmas-music/339435#ixzz3ItnpqqIl
Wow. How generous. I’m sure that’s going to draw thousands of new listeners.
Commercial radio stations do this not for listeners at all, but for their sponsors who are itching to begin their holiday sales pitches. Not only that, but a lot of the songs they play are actually hated by those that actually like the holiday music. Many others just hate that it starts in so early, but again, it is about the selling of radio time and nothing else.
http://www.thegloss.com/2011/11/29/culture/hate-christmas-carols-annoying-444/
If this were a bad idea, another station would temporarily switch to AC during the holidays. I haven’t seen this happen anywhere.
The list of the ten most hated Christmas songs was classic! For those who didn’t read all the way to the end, they are:
10. Little Jimmy Boyd, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
9. Mannheim Steamroller, “Deck The Halls”
8. Neil Diamond, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
7. Seymour Swine & Squeelers, “Blue Christmas” (the version that features a Porky Pig-soundalike stammering his way through the Elvis Presley standard)
6. Cartman, “O Holy Night”
5. Elmo & Patsy, “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”
4. Barbra Streisand, “Jingle Bells”
3. Spike Jones, “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”
2. Beach Boys, “The Man With All The Toys”
1. Singing Dogs, “Jingle Bells”Andy, politely, if stations go All-Christmas just for the sponsors, how do you explain explosive ratings for these stations?
The two worst Christmas songs are “Santa Baby” and “Baby it’s cold outside.” And it doesn’t matter who sings the song.
Every time I hear those songs. I change the channel.
“if stations go All-Christmas just for the sponsors, how do you explain explosive ratings for these stations?”
You just answered your own question. The better question is why is there a ratings bump for stations that fixate on bad Christmas music that most normal folks I talk to that still listen to the radio at all can’t stand?
Because ratings are now, under ppm, using a much smaller set of data due to the expense. This makes the holy grail of advertisers even less reliable than it was with diaries, which used a larger sample of supposed listeners who would fill out their diaries the day before they were collected. I documented all that previously. The bottom line is that it is all about the sponsors. The “listeners” that drive those numbers up just don’t seem to reflect reality. I don’t expect you to agree nor do I wish to argue the point. I see corporate radio as designed and playing to those few ppm meter holders and not the larger listening public, which you can’t deny is a shrinking pool over the last 20 years. Granted there are always those that thrive on hearing the same songs over and over and over, whether it be on a daily basis or in this case, every winter holiday season.
http://www.radioinsights.com/2009/05/who-says-ppm-is-more-accurate.html
http://www.the-makegood.com/2014/10/23/did-the-portable-people-meter-destroy-radio/
Even Nielsen has a report on how to deal with ppm b.s.
So my point is that the ratings boost you wrote of is not reflecting the true feelings of a much larger group, the majority of listeners who don’t have ppm meters whose dislike as expressed in my initial post links is one of disgust, not joy. That, Paul, is how I explain it.
I just read on Facebook that KOOL 99.1 in Eugene is looking to start on Monday 11/17. They are also asking for comments.
Christmas music station = Plug n Play inoffensive background music source
I think that this holiday season, I will keep a tally of all the places where I hear all-Christmas stations being played.
“I just read on Facebook that KOOL 99.1 in Eugene is looking to start on Monday 11/17. They are also asking for comments.”
There is a decent temperature inversion today (sometimes good for FM Dx)… I just tuned in 99.1 and heard several Christmas/winter tunes including the dreaded “Baby it’s Cold Outside”. All Xmas programming? I don’t think that there has *actually* been a call letter change to “KOOL”.
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