It's that time of year again...
If your local station hasn't done so already, it'll start playing nonstop Christmas music all the way up to midnight on December 26, if not beyond that. This means that KSWD and KRWM in Seattle, as well as WLIT in Chicago, are in 24/7 Christmas mode. What stations in your area are currently playing the holiday favorites, or will flip to All-Christmas soon?
In my area: 106.7 (Boston, Audacity Audacy) and 96.1 (Worcester, iHateRadio IHeartRadio). I can get both stations. However, I preferred 104.9 (Topsfield, smaller range), which has been bought out and is an entirely different station now. 104.9 had a much larger variety, some of which were just less well known songs, but others of which were songs from the movies that typical stations have no reason not to play, e.g. We Are Santa's Elves from the Rudolph movie. 104.9 was also independent and not owned by either of the two radio conglomerations mentioned above.
IIRC, 106.7 played Christmas music well before Halloween, which the normal start date.
In Providence, RI, Lite Rock 105.1, WWLI-FM (signal reaches into Massachusetts) is another all-Christmas music station. Given the relatively small number of RI radio stations, it's really noticeable.
FM 100.3 was always the Christmas standard in Salt Lake.
Around here, the stations that go Christmas play the same cycle of about ten songs over and over. I actually like Christmas music in the season; the lack of variety stinks.
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on November 24, 2022, 11:11:46 AM
IIRC, 106.7 played Christmas music well before Halloween, which the normal start date.
That's definitely not the case now, and I don't think it was the case back when it was 105.7 rather than 106.7 doing it. (The switch happened when 106.7 was owned by 105.7, and 105.7 would even periodically say to listen to 106.7 for Christmas music the year they switched.) It started about a week ago. 96.1 started on maybe November 4 or so, while 104.9, when it existed, started on somewhere around the 10th.
KDGE-Star 102.1 in Dallas, TX (https://www.fox4news.com/video/1141531) started their Christmas music rotation on November 10th. They can be streamed on Audacy, although at that point, I would rather be streaming from either my Plex media server, Amazon Music, or Apple Music.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 11:21:59 AM
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on November 24, 2022, 11:11:46 AM
IIRC, 106.7 played Christmas music well before Halloween, which the normal start date.
That's definitely not the case now, and I don't think it was the case back when it was 105.7 rather than 106.7 doing it. (The switch happened when 106.7 was owned by 105.7, and 105.7 would even periodically say to listen to 106.7 for Christmas music the year they switched.) It started about a week ago. 96.1 started on maybe November 4 or so, while 104.9, when it existed, started on somewhere around the 10th.
There's a 106.7 HD station (106.7-2 on my car radio) that has played Christmas music for a while, definitely before Halloween.
So here is a list of songs that 104.9 played that I haven't heard on the radio anywhere else, comparing 1 year of 104.9 to 6+ years of 96.1, 105.7, and 106.7 combined. This list is almost guaranteed to contain errors, but it's the best I have.
Default category
- Christmas Lights
- Hallelujah (Carrie Underwood) (unrelated to the one by Leonard Cohen or the Hallelujah Chorus)
- Oh Santa!
- The Man with All the Toys
- ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?
- A Christmas Song (not to be confused with The Christmas Song)
- Christmas Calling
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
- I Believe in Father Christmas
- It's Christmas Time All Over the World
- Must Be Santa
- Officially Christmas
- Santa's Coming For Us (also heard at CVS)
- Small Town Christmas
- That's Christmas to Me
- (It Must Have Been Ol') Santa Claus
- Candy Cane Lane
- Christmas Where You Are
- Favorite Time of Year
- Give Love on Christmas Day
- Hard Candy Christmas
- Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rhum
- It Doesn't Have to Be This Way (yes, this is a Christmas song)
- Merry Xmas Everybody
- Santa Can You Hear Me
- Shake Up Christmas (have heard at some stores)
- Text Me Merry Christmas (have heard at Stop & Shop)
- That Holiday Feeling
- The Christmas Sweater
- All I Want for Christmas is a Rock 'N' Roll Guitar
- An Old-Fashioned Christmas
- Feels Like Christmas
- I Believe in Santa Claus
- Merry Christmas from the Family
- That's Why We Celebrate
- Wake Up, It's Christmas Morning
- Whatever Happened to Christmas?
- Wrapped in Red
- One that I have no idea what it is but it's called "[title] (Christmas version)" where only about two words are changed in the entire song
From movies
- Heat Miser/Snow Miser (always consecutive, but in either order)
- Silver and Gold
- We Are Santa's Elves
- Put One Foot in Front of the Other
- The Polar Express
- We're a Couple of Misfits
- Hot Chocolate
Parodies
- Mr. Santa (parody of Mr. Sandman)
- Don't know the title, but it's a parody of YMCA
Not Christmas songs and shouldn't be played
- The Gift (first two words are "winter snow", no mention of anything after that)
- Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) performed by Pentatonix (putting something on a Christmas album doesn't make it a Christmas song) (also heard at one restaurant)
- Don't Put Mercury in the Trash (justified since it's a commercial)
Still missing and non-religious
- Good King Wenceslas, except as a station identifier on 105.7 years ago
- Here We Come A-Wassailing
- Boar's Head Carol
- Any non-instrumental version of O Christmas Tree
I won't listen to the station until after they stop this nonsense, but in the DC area, WASH-FM 97.1 starts doing that around November 1 (which just makes it that much more obnoxious).
Here in KC we have two Christmas radio stations: 94.9 KCMO and KC 102.1. The former switched over yesterday morning; I'm not sure when the latter one switched, but I know it was already playing Christmas music in the single-digits of November.
Anyway, I think that, not only should stations wait until the week of Thanksgiving (preferably the day itself) to change to all-Christmas music format, but I think they should keep it on that format at least through New Year's, if not through Twelfth Night (January 5). Who's with me on that? (Sometimes, if we have a big snowstorm in late January or February, I'll sometimes listen to Christmas music even then!)
Unless it's Bob Rivers I'm not too interested. As someone who loves the Christmas season (my house is by far the most Christmas-y looking in my neighborhood my whole life), the music just doesn't move the needle for me. I guess being a metal head leaves a void for us.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 01:13:12 PM
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
Man I forget all the time that Billy Squire has a Christmas song.
Twin Cities had 107.9 KQQL (KOOL 108, 80s/90s hits) switch over sometime already.
WMXL-FM (94.5) in Lexington switched at the first of the month. They market themselves as MixMas during this time.
The first time I rode anywhere with my wife driving and that station playing, I lost Wham-a-geddon.
101.9 WLIF is the standard in Baltimore.
KNTU 88.1 in Denton, TX plays jazz from a link on their online site (www.kntu.com); since Thanksgiving, every 3rd to 5th song played is a jazzy Christmas song.
(If you listen to their OTA station, it plays indie music; the OTA station flipped from jazz a few months ago to a negatively-raucous mixed reaction.)
In WNY, Star 102.5 starts playing 24/7 Christmas music on November 1st now.
100.7 in my area of Lakeland, Florida along with 107.9 FM.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 01:13:12 PM
So here is a list of songs that 104.9 played that I haven't heard on the radio anywhere else, comparing 1 year of 104.9 to 6+ years of 96.1, 105.7, and 106.7 combined. This list is almost guaranteed to contain errors, but it's the best I have.
Default category
- Christmas Lights
- Hallelujah (Carrie Underwood) (unrelated to the one by Leonard Cohen or the Hallelujah Chorus)
- Oh Santa!
- The Man with All the Toys
- ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?
- A Christmas Song (not to be confused with The Christmas Song)
- Christmas Calling
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
- I Believe in Father Christmas
- It's Christmas Time All Over the World
- Must Be Santa
- Officially Christmas
- Santa's Coming For Us (also heard at CVS)
- Small Town Christmas
- That's Christmas to Me
- (It Must Have Been Ol') Santa Claus
- Candy Cane Lane
- Christmas Where You Are
- Favorite Time of Year
- Give Love on Christmas Day
- Hard Candy Christmas
- Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rhum
- It Doesn't Have to Be This Way (yes, this is a Christmas song)
- Merry Xmas Everybody
- Santa Can You Hear Me
- Shake Up Christmas (have heard at some stores)
- Text Me Merry Christmas (have heard at Stop & Shop)
- That Holiday Feeling
- The Christmas Sweater
- All I Want for Christmas is a Rock 'N' Roll Guitar
- An Old-Fashioned Christmas
- Feels Like Christmas
- I Believe in Santa Claus
- Merry Christmas from the Family
- That's Why We Celebrate
- Wake Up, It's Christmas Morning
- Whatever Happened to Christmas?
- Wrapped in Red
- One that I have no idea what it is but it's called "[title] (Christmas version)" where only about two words are changed in the entire song
From movies
- Heat Miser/Snow Miser (always consecutive, but in either order)
- Silver and Gold
- We Are Santa's Elves
- Put One Foot in Front of the Other
- The Polar Express
- We're a Couple of Misfits
- Hot Chocolate
Parodies
- Mr. Santa (parody of Mr. Sandman)
- Don't know the title, but it's a parody of YMCA
Not Christmas songs and shouldn't be played
- The Gift (first two words are "winter snow", no mention of anything after that)
- Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) performed by Pentatonix (putting something on a Christmas album doesn't make it a Christmas song) (also heard at one restaurant)
- Don't Put Mercury in the Trash (justified since it's a commercial)
Still missing and non-religious
- Good King Wenceslas, except as a station identifier on 105.7 years ago
- Here We Come A-Wassailing
- Boar's Head Carol
- Any non-instrumental version of O Christmas Tree
But the station doesn't play this variety anymore, right?
Would appreciate a direct recommendation for a station that has Christmas variety like this.
Generally if one company owns one or more stations in the Philadelphia / Wilmington area, one of them goes Christmas.
I ventured south today into the Salisbury / Dover market and almost every station was playing Christmas music.
I miss the days when stations had individual owners. Around now they'd start mixing Christmas music in, and go full throttle on Christmas Day.
Quote from: Rothman on November 26, 2022, 07:20:03 PM
But the station doesn't play this variety anymore, right?
Would appreciate a direct recommendation for a station that has Christmas variety like this.
It changed ownership and doesn't even go all-Christmas anymore.
It's also way outside your area: https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNKC&service=FM
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 11:21:59 AM
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on November 24, 2022, 11:11:46 AM
IIRC, 106.7 played Christmas music well before Halloween, which the normal start date.
That's definitely not the case now, and I don't think it was the case back when it was 105.7 rather than 106.7 doing it. (The switch happened when 106.7 was owned by 105.7, and 105.7 would even periodically say to listen to 106.7 for Christmas music the year they switched.) It started about a week ago. 96.1 started on maybe November 4 or so, while 104.9, when it existed, started on somewhere around the 10th.
Another 105.7, WMJI Cleveland, switches really early to Christmas music every year (November 4 this year) and won't stop until about New Year's. Seems too early, although Hallmark Channel was already nonstop Christmas movies for two weeks at that point.
Shopping in Meijer yesterday I said "uh, oh, here it comes!" when the beginning notes of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You played in the store, with a soft screech of people singing along in low voices all tried to hit that high note near the end. Only another month of that left!
KOST 103.5 is a notable Christmas radio station in the LA area.
Quote from: PurdueBill on November 26, 2022, 08:45:18 PM
Shopping in Meijer yesterday I said "uh, oh, here it comes!" when the beginning notes of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You played in the store, with a soft screech of people singing along in low voices all tried to hit that high note near the end. Only another month of that left!
I may be in the small minority that actually likes that particular song, although I wonder how much of it is me actually liking it and how much of it is because of how many times in my life it has represented a brief respite from Bing Goddamn Fucking Pants-Shitting Crosby.
Whatever the mothership Yankee Candle store in Deerfield MA is playing for Christmas music is terrifying. It was covers of standards, and they were just feeble attempts at people trying to sing.
The animatronic bears singing "We Wish You a Happy Holidays" instead of the standard line was the peak of not trying to offend someone.
Quote from: 1 on November 26, 2022, 07:31:12 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 26, 2022, 07:20:03 PM
But the station doesn't play this variety anymore, right?
Would appreciate a direct recommendation for a station that has Christmas variety like this.
It changed ownership and doesn't even go all-Christmas anymore.
It's also way outside your area: https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNKC&service=FM
Sure. But, there are a lot of places where a whole lot of radio stations are streamed on the Internet.
Quote from: SectorZ on November 27, 2022, 09:06:39 AM
Whatever the mothership Yankee Candle store in Deerfield MA is playing for Christmas music is terrifying. It was covers of standards, and they were just feeble attempts at people trying to sing.
The animatronic bears singing "We Wish You a Happy Holidays" instead of the standard line was the peak of not trying to offend someone.
Then there was Macys in Orlando that played Madonnas Holiday as a Christmas song on their piped in music when I worked there.
Quote from: Rothman on November 27, 2022, 12:26:43 PMBut, there are a lot of places where a whole lot of radio stations are streamed on the Internet.
This makes Radio Garden (https://markholtz.info/radiogarden) my preferred app for streaming stations on my smart phone.
Quote from: ZLoth on November 27, 2022, 09:24:47 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 27, 2022, 12:26:43 PMBut, there are a lot of places where a whole lot of radio stations are streamed on the Internet.
This makes Radio Garden (https://markholtz.info/radiogarden) my preferred app for streaming stations on my smart phone.
I have seen stations disappear and appear from that site. I have wondered if it was due to external links.
Metro Phoenix, AZ KESZ 99.9 (I-Heart Radio)
Quote from: Henry on November 24, 2022, 10:41:05 AM
It's that time of year again...
If your local station hasn't done so already, it'll start playing nonstop Christmas music all the way up to midnight on December 26, if not beyond that. This means that KSWD and KRWM in Seattle, as well as WLIT in Chicago, are in 24/7 Christmas mode. What stations in your area are currently playing the holiday favorites, or will flip to All-Christmas soon?
People still listen to the radio?
Around here, it started dribbling in shortly after Halloween, and now every time I hear the damnable sleigh-bells I .... *goes black for a while*
Christmastime is killing us. (insert family guy ref here).
Every year Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier with music on well before Thanksgiving.
Years ago, the Christmas ads didn't start on TV until the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade while Santa didn't start his stint in the Malls until Black Friday making usually a Grand Entrance at the start of the shopping day.
Now Christmas seems to end before Christmas is supposed to begin when in the different churches they believe that Christmas starts either on Christmas Day or in January for some Eastern rites while Advent Starts the last Sunday in November.
Most people are weary of this before it even gets into full swing.
Quote from: Rothman on November 28, 2022, 02:39:58 AM
Quote from: ZLoth on November 27, 2022, 09:24:47 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 27, 2022, 12:26:43 PMBut, there are a lot of places where a whole lot of radio stations are streamed on the Internet.
This makes Radio Garden (https://markholtz.info/radiogarden) my preferred app for streaming stations on my smart phone.
I have seen stations disappear and appear from that site. I have wondered if it was due to external links.
Probably. Radio Garden (https://markholtz.info/radiogarden) isn't a direct streaming service
per se, they are just a database providing the link to the station, and it has a very NICE interface.
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on November 28, 2022, 06:34:37 AMAround here, it started dribbling in shortly after Halloween, and now every time I hear the damnable sleigh-bells I .... *goes black for a while*
Christmastime is killing us. (insert family guy ref here).
Perhaps you should watch the "12 Pains Of Christmas"...
Since I'm in Chicago, it's the aforementioned 93.9 Lite FM if I want radio Christmas music. The variety, or lack thereof, isn't great, but for short spurts of listening I don't mind it. It brings back nostalgia to when I had a teacher in junior high who would have the radio on during the day in her classroom. Or just listening to it as a kid before on-demand music streaming was mainstream.
They started absurdly early this year, but I haven't listened to Christmas music just yet. I might start soon, but some of the songs bring me back to memories I'd prefer to not think about as opposed to good ones. I went sour on Christmas music in 2020 during what was a chaotic and unhappy year, and I just wasn't feeling it. And I haven't really been feeling it much since.
For the record, if I could pick the perfect time to broadcast Christmas music, it would be from the Monday before Thanksgiving through the end of New Year's Day.
Almost 50 years ago, Peanuts produced their Easter special and the department store was having Christmas sales at that time.
SiriusXM has a new smooth jazz Christmas station, Cool Jazz Christmas. Normally Watercolors doesn't start mixing in Christmas songs until mid-December and goes all-Christmas on Christmas Eve.
Quote from: SectorZ on November 24, 2022, 05:47:16 PM
Unless it's Bob Rivers I'm not too interested. As someone who loves the Christmas season (my house is by far the most Christmas-y looking in my neighborhood my whole life), the music just doesn't move the needle for me. I guess being a metal head leaves a void for us.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 01:13:12 PM
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
Man I forget all the time that Billy Squire has a Christmas song.
You won't forget if you listen to the SiriusXM Christmas Rock Songs station or whatever it's called, it's one of the six songs they play on a loop.
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 28, 2022, 12:27:08 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on November 24, 2022, 05:47:16 PM
Unless it's Bob Rivers I'm not too interested. As someone who loves the Christmas season (my house is by far the most Christmas-y looking in my neighborhood my whole life), the music just doesn't move the needle for me. I guess being a metal head leaves a void for us.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 01:13:12 PM
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
Man I forget all the time that Billy Squire has a Christmas song.
You won't forget if you listen to the SiriusXM Christmas Rock Songs station or whatever it's called, it's one of the six songs they play on a loop.
I think I'll make sure to avoid that one then. :-D
Quote from: SectorZ on November 28, 2022, 05:06:20 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 28, 2022, 12:27:08 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on November 24, 2022, 05:47:16 PM
Unless it's Bob Rivers I'm not too interested. As someone who loves the Christmas season (my house is by far the most Christmas-y looking in my neighborhood my whole life), the music just doesn't move the needle for me. I guess being a metal head leaves a void for us.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 01:13:12 PM
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
Man I forget all the time that Billy Squire has a Christmas song.
You won't forget if you listen to the SiriusXM Christmas Rock Songs station or whatever it's called, it's one of the six songs they play on a loop.
I think I'll make sure to avoid that one then. :-D
It's pretty much that song, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band cover Jingle Bells, and one version of Adam Sandler's Chanukah song.
There are plenty of Christmas Songs out there, but many go ignored as the popular versions seem to get attention most.
Don't get me wrong, but I enjoy hearing Andy Williams It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year or Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You, but Clapton has a good Christmas Album and only heard one of his songs about a Christmas letter twice in two years on radio.
In other words expand the loop from twenty songs to forty with some alternating tracks.
I actually enjoy hearing radio Christmas music because of nostalgia. Only in small doses however.
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 28, 2022, 05:12:08 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on November 28, 2022, 05:06:20 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 28, 2022, 12:27:08 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on November 24, 2022, 05:47:16 PM
Unless it's Bob Rivers I'm not too interested. As someone who loves the Christmas season (my house is by far the most Christmas-y looking in my neighborhood my whole life), the music just doesn't move the needle for me. I guess being a metal head leaves a void for us.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 01:13:12 PM
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
Man I forget all the time that Billy Squire has a Christmas song.
You won't forget if you listen to the SiriusXM Christmas Rock Songs station or whatever it's called, it's one of the six songs they play on a loop.
I think I'll make sure to avoid that one then. :-D
It's pretty much that song, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band cover Jingle Bells, and one version of Adam Sandler's Chanukah song.
No Springsteen "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"? I always thought Bruce was incredibly constipated while singing that one.
Quote from: SectorZ on December 01, 2022, 03:26:58 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 28, 2022, 05:12:08 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on November 28, 2022, 05:06:20 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 28, 2022, 12:27:08 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on November 24, 2022, 05:47:16 PM
Unless it's Bob Rivers I'm not too interested. As someone who loves the Christmas season (my house is by far the most Christmas-y looking in my neighborhood my whole life), the music just doesn't move the needle for me. I guess being a metal head leaves a void for us.
Quote from: 1 on November 24, 2022, 01:13:12 PM
- Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
Man I forget all the time that Billy Squire has a Christmas song.
You won't forget if you listen to the SiriusXM Christmas Rock Songs station or whatever it's called, it's one of the six songs they play on a loop.
I think I'll make sure to avoid that one then. :-D
It's pretty much that song, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band cover Jingle Bells, and one version of Adam Sandler's Chanukah song.
No Springsteen "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"? I always thought Bruce was incredibly constipated while singing that one.
Clarence getting him laughing is a lot of fun.
Quote from: SectorZ on December 01, 2022, 03:26:58 PMNo Springsteen "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"? I always thought Bruce was incredibly constipated while singing that one.
Yep, that's what I meant, not Jingle Bells. I was probably thinking of Jingle Bells because of the sleigh bells/tinkly piano at the beginning of the song.
Here is a list of stations I have gathered as I am also a radio nerd too.
Long Island, NY - Walk 97.5 (WALK FM)
Bridgeport/New Haven, CT - Webe 108 (WEBE 107.9 FM)
New York City, NY - 106.7 Lite FM (WLTW FM)
Hudson Valley, NY - 100.7 WHUD (WHUD FM)
Albany, NY - 98.3 WTRY (WTRY FM) and 103.9 The Breeze (WPBZ FM)
Philadelphia, PA - B101.1 (WBEB FM)
Ocean City, MD - Q105 (WQHQ 104.7 FM)
Boston, MA - Magic 106.7 (WMJX FM)
Springfield MA - 98.7 WNNS (WNNS FM)
Utica, NY - Lite 98.7 (WLZW FM)
Syracuse, NY - Y94 (WYYY 94.5 FM)
Rochester, NY - Warm 101.3 (WRMM FM)
Buffalo, NY - Star 102.5 (WTSS FM)
If anyone needs one for their specific city, they can contact me on dms, or replies to this post.
Quote from: ZLoth on November 28, 2022, 07:24:39 AM
Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on November 28, 2022, 06:34:37 AMAround here, it started dribbling in shortly after Halloween, and now every time I hear the damnable sleigh-bells I .... *goes black for a while*
Christmastime is killing us. (insert family guy ref here).
Perhaps you should watch the "12 Pains Of Christmas"...
What always gets me about the song is that the angry man who rants about "working up the lights" sounds just like Mike Ditka.
Fun fact: Last Christmas by Wham lasts at least a full minute past what you usually hear on the radio. I've heard a few seconds difference in ending time before, but today at Starbucks, I heard it go way past where it normally cuts off. No extra verses, though.
Quote from: 1 on December 13, 2022, 09:02:05 PM
Fun fact: Last Christmas by Wham lasts at least a full minute past what you usually hear on the radio. I've heard a few seconds difference in ending time before, but today at Starbucks, I heard it go way past where it normally cuts off. No extra verses, though.
I feel like they should have given you something for free to compensate you for that.
I forgot to mention this earlier. It's been up the entire season, but since I typically switch around the 20th or so (I switched a bit earlier this year because of signal issues regarding 106.7):
https://www.classicalwcrb.org
Stream "Perfect Holiday Party Soundtrack". You'll get a single ad immediately upon clicking but none after that until you stop and start again. It contains some instrumental and some choral, and I would say about 60% are religious. There are a few you might not recognize (I would say nothing more obscure than Il est né le divin enfant, which isn't universally known but is known by a decent percentage).
(The other two streams include more obscure pieces. Heavenly Holiday Classics includes long pieces like Messiah, the entirety of the Nutcracker, and Charpentier's Christmas Mass, while Ultimate Holiday Classical Mix is all standalone but I only recognize about 1/3. You'll definitely want the Party Soundtrack.)
The end is fast approaching, so I was wondering something else: Does your station flip back to regular music at midnight on December 26th, or at a later date and time? I remember a time when the former was done nationwide, but now that rule has apparently been relaxed because few stations extend their holiday marathon to the first Friday/Saturday/Sunday after Christmas. (However, this year I wouldn't count on it going past Friday, since the next two days will be New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, respectively.)
Quote from: Henry on December 21, 2022, 10:46:02 AM
The end is fast approaching, so I was wondering something else: Does your station flip back to regular music at midnight on December 26th, or at a later date and time? I remember a time when the former was done nationwide, but now that rule has apparently been relaxed because few stations extend their holiday marathon to the first Friday/Saturday/Sunday after Christmas. (However, this year I wouldn't count on it going past Friday, since the next two days will be New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, respectively.)
I know Magic 106.7 in Boston goes right back to regular music starting on the 26th.
At one time ZRadio in Orlando kept it going beyond Christmas Day, but in the past few decades have stopped after the 25th. It seems they were catering to the denominations that believed in Advent with Christmas only starting on the 25th, but now stopped.
WBVM being part of the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL has kept it going till New Years to keep up with the Catholic Liturgy, as New Years the Church stops it's Christmas music at mass even though their season official ends after the Second Sunday of January.
Quote from: BlueOutback7 on December 21, 2022, 11:33:06 AM
Quote from: Henry on December 21, 2022, 10:46:02 AM
The end is fast approaching, so I was wondering something else: Does your station flip back to regular music at midnight on December 26th, or at a later date and time? I remember a time when the former was done nationwide, but now that rule has apparently been relaxed because few stations extend their holiday marathon to the first Friday/Saturday/Sunday after Christmas. (However, this year I wouldn't count on it going past Friday, since the next two days will be New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, respectively.)
I know Magic 106.7 in Boston goes right back to regular music starting on the 26th.
It is almost comical how WMJI in Cleveland, after playing Christmas music nonstop since before Halloween, cut to "regular" stuff as soon as possible after midnight passed. One might think that especially with the legal holiday being the Monday and people still in the holiday mode, maybe another day of it? Nope! Even the Hallmark Channel continues Christmas movies until January 1!
Quote from: ZLoth on November 24, 2022, 11:32:28 AMKDGE-Star 102.1 in Dallas, TX (https://www.fox4news.com/video/1141531) started their Christmas music rotation on November 10th.
In Dallas, KDGE went back to standard music on the 26th. WRR 101 (yes, a station west of the Mississippi that begins with a W), however, is sticking with holiday music until January 2nd because they are transitioning to being managed by KERA and becoming a non-commercial all-classical station (https://www.wrr101.com/faq/).
96.1 (Worcester) has seriously cut back on variety this year. 106.7 (Boston) is about where it was before.
Songs that 96.1 doesn't seem to play despite definitely hearing them repeatedly on "standard" Christmas stations (so not now-gone 104.9 that had unusually high variety):
- The "other" All I Want for Christmas is You — the one that's not Mariah Carey (you can tell the difference by the time signature)
- Caroling Caroling
- Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
- Merry Christmas Darling
- Merry Christmas Baby
- Celebrate Me Home
- Mele Kalikimaka
- Christmas Waltz
- Little Saint Nick
- Mary's Boy Child
- My Grownup Christmas List
- Christmas Tree Farm
- Christmas Wrapping
- Some weird arrangement of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
- Dominick the Donkey
- Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
- Same Old Lang Syne (not to be confused with Old Lang Syne itself)
- Snoopy's Christmas
Coffee FM out here on the Cape is Christmas 24/7. The other stations here mix in the Christmas standards amongst the normal songs. KEZK 102.5 in St. Louis flips back to normal at midnight the 26th. A few years ago, when there were two other Christmas stations in town they stayed all Christmas until New Year's Day.
Quote from: CapeCodder on December 09, 2023, 11:00:17 AM
Coffee FM out here on the Cape is Christmas 24/7. The other stations here mix in the Christmas standards amongst the normal songs. KEZK 102.5 in St. Louis flips back to normal at midnight the 26th. A few years ago, when there were two other Christmas stations in town they stayed all Christmas until New Year's Day.
A couple of years ago, B98.5 in Little Rock stayed all-Christmas through December 30.
Here at home, Mix 98.7 (WJKK) went all-Christmas the second week of November.
Only two FM stations in Seattle have transitioned to all-Christmas this year: Spirit 105.3, which is Contemporary Christian anyway, and Adult Contemporary Warm 106.1 106.9. Santa 101.5 is a no-show this year.
I wonder if this is another sign that radio has given up. There are almost no radio station billboards any more, even though we have had two recent format changes: KJR Sports Radio moving to FM and 98.9 changing to Adult Album Alternative. There used to be radio station remote trucks at the Puyallup Fair, or at least radio station sponsors in the schedule books handed out, but now nothing.
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on December 11, 2023, 07:56:59 PM
Only two FM stations in Seattle have transitioned to all-Christmas this year: Spirit 105.3, which is Contemporary Christian anyway, and Adult Contemporary Warm 106.1. Santa 101.5 is a no-show this year.
I wonder if this is another sign that radio has given up. There are almost no radio station billboards any more, even though we have had two recent format changes: KJR Sports Radio moving to FM and 98.9 changing to Adult Album Alternative. There used to be radio station remote trucks at the Puyallup Fair, or at least radio station sponsors in the schedule books handed out, but now nothing.
First off, you mean Warm 106.9. The station at 106.1 has a Top-40 format, and I think you're forgetting about 94.1 The Sound, another Soft AC station that competes with the same station from which it stole Delilah (Warm 106.9).
Second, there are still plenty of stations to pick from, even though they're simply not as good as they used to be. Notice how nobody says "oldies" anymore, because it's now "classic hits", and several other formats have gone extinct, including smooth jazz. Even the nonmusical stations have gone downhill, with news that gets stale within an hour and loudmouthed talkshow hosts who throw their support behind Donald Trump. Pandora is far better at preserving these formats than the big-money companies are (that means iHeart, Audacy and Cumulus).
Quote from: Henry on December 11, 2023, 09:47:30 PM
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on December 11, 2023, 07:56:59 PM
Only two FM stations in Seattle have transitioned to all-Christmas this year: Spirit 105.3, which is Contemporary Christian anyway, and Adult Contemporary Warm 106.1. Santa 101.5 is a no-show this year.
I wonder if this is another sign that radio has given up. There are almost no radio station billboards any more, even though we have had two recent format changes: KJR Sports Radio moving to FM and 98.9 changing to Adult Album Alternative. There used to be radio station remote trucks at the Puyallup Fair, or at least radio station sponsors in the schedule books handed out, but now nothing.
First off, you mean Warm 106.9. The station at 106.1 has a Top-40 format, and I think you're forgetting about 94.1 The Sound, another Soft AC station that competes with the same station from which it stole Delilah (Warm 106.9).
Second, there are still plenty of stations to pick from, even though they're simply not as good as they used to be. Notice how nobody says "oldies" anymore, because it's now "classic hits", and several other formats have gone extinct, including smooth jazz. Even the nonmusical stations have gone downhill, with news that gets stale within an hour and loudmouthed talkshow hosts who throw their support behind Donald Trump. Pandora is far better at preserving these formats than the big-money companies are (that means iHeart, Audacy and Cumulus).
I associate "classic hits" with the 80s. "Oldies" to me implies older than that - 60s at the
latest.
In my head, the quintessential classic hits stations are CBS FM (WCBS) in NYC and Classic Hits 104.1 (WHTT) in Buffalo. I'm aware others are different
Quote from: Henry on December 11, 2023, 09:47:30 PM
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on December 11, 2023, 07:56:59 PM
Only two FM stations in Seattle have transitioned to all-Christmas this year: Spirit 105.3, which is Contemporary Christian anyway, and Adult Contemporary Warm 106.1. Santa 101.5 is a no-show this year.
I wonder if this is another sign that radio has given up. There are almost no radio station billboards any more, even though we have had two recent format changes: KJR Sports Radio moving to FM and 98.9 changing to Adult Album Alternative. There used to be radio station remote trucks at the Puyallup Fair, or at least radio station sponsors in the schedule books handed out, but now nothing.
First off, you mean Warm 106.9. The station at 106.1 has a Top-40 format, and I think you're forgetting about 94.1 The Sound, another Soft AC station that competes with the same station from which it stole Delilah (Warm 106.9).
Second, there are still plenty of stations to pick from, even though they're simply not as good as they used to be. Notice how nobody says "oldies" anymore, because it's now "classic hits", and several other formats have gone extinct, including smooth jazz. Even the nonmusical stations have gone downhill, with news that gets stale within an hour and loudmouthed talkshow hosts who throw their support behind Donald Trump. Pandora is far better at preserving these formats than the big-money companies are (that means iHeart, Audacy and Cumulus).
The big conglomerates like iHateRadio have ruined radio by taking away almost all local control. With a few exceptions, it's glorified satelliited radio.