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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 17, 2008 23:20:40 GMT -6
(Extra points to those who remember that commercial format from football and baseball in the 80's.)
The topic is Christmas music.
You're the program director at an A/C or similar compatible format. When do you personally think you should "go Christmas"? Dates, frequency of the music and any other parameters that the PD has control over are in play.
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Post by Timmy on Nov 18, 2008 6:38:06 GMT -6
I've always been comfy with going Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. go 24/7 through Jan 1st. Or Perhaps through Dec 25th. This in no fashion takes any ratings or financial aspects into consideration. That's just an emotional standpoint. I would assume the greater public might agree.
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Post by michaeljwyo on Nov 18, 2008 10:05:46 GMT -6
Well for the 20+ years I've been involved in radio....and some of those years spent as PD... I always thought day-after Thanksgiving is prudent. However, I've always done a mix of Xmas and regular format. Even our satellite networks will do mix in SOME Xmas. Yeah okay if it's Xmas eve or Xmas day then sure....all Xmas is fine. But not til then. To me, that's when it's tolerable. Contrary to what they may believe, NOT ALL AC fans are Xmas music fans and are okay with the station going total Xmas for a month. Personally it would bum me out...and I AM an AC fan and it SUCKS that for a month I've lost my favorite station. Seems like this is only something recent (like within the last 10 or 15 years?) that a station goes ALL Xmas. Otherwise I wanna say it was always done like I mentioned above.....just start to mix it in after the day-after-thanksgivig and then increase the mix of Xmas music as you get closer to Xmas. By the time Xmas is just about here, we're playing 4 or 5 Xmas tunes an hour. We start out by playing 1 or 2 an hour right after thanksgiving.
Michael n Wyo
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Post by dxstuboy on Nov 18, 2008 23:06:56 GMT -6
I can't stand 24 hours of xmas music. I don't listen to the following stations anyway so I guess it doesn't effect me much.
97.9 KBZN
98.7 KBEE
100.3 KSFI
106.5 KOSY
and which ever other station plays 24/7 of xmas I can't stand.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 18, 2008 23:23:43 GMT -6
I have to throw my vote in for definitely not until Thanksgiving and then maybe let one AC station i a market go all in and another do a gradual mix. I think which way I lean probably depends on the day you ask.  Timmy brings up a good point. I was specifically trying to avoid making a decision based on what is better from a business point of view. Of course the real world doesn't work that way, but I was trying to get a sense of what people like themselves. It seems in discussions I've heard in a number of places that most people seem to think Christmas is starting way too early. I agree, but why does it happen every year? There has to be some evidence somewhere that says it's a good idea. One idea I came up with is that maybe the stations really don't get listened too all that much when they flip early, but that gets the idea into people's heads that "oh XXXX is an all Christmas station" so when they ARE ready for it, they'll think of that station first. It's kind of a loss leader situation. The ratings books average out each quarter, so if taking a 50% hit in early/mid November results in a gain of 25% in late November through mid December when the book ends, maybe it's worth it. I can't think of anything else that works with what I've observed. Anyone else have an idea? |
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dolt
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hopping thither and yon
Posts: 89
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Post by dolt on Nov 19, 2008 23:04:14 GMT -6
My wild guess for why stations flip to all Christmas. For many merchants Christmas sales determine whether they finish in the red or the black. Having an all Christmas format makes it easier to sell spots.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 20, 2008 1:43:54 GMT -6
Anecdotally I've heard that too, but I've yet to see any study that would indicate someone's shopping choices would be more influenced by a station running Christmas music as opposed to their normal rotation. Are people more inclined to start shopping early if the hear Christmas music? I don't think so, but I really don't know. I'd also be curious about what percentage of Christmas shopping is done at what time of year. Anybody know of any studies of either of those things?
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Post by Timmy on Nov 20, 2008 8:52:00 GMT -6
I still think that it could be very profitable for one AC station to stay the course and not flip all Christmas. Since there are obviously plenty who don't dig on endless all you can stand Christmas tunes. Plus if that station could "convert" those defectors into P1's, sweet! It would be smart for say, KBEE to up their AC game here and have promos and advertising to bring em in full-time. I think they edge a little more hot/ac, but they're no My99.5. But who has the dough at this point to amp-up like that? Especially Citadel.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 21, 2008 0:40:00 GMT -6
But who has the dough at this point to amp-up like that? Especially Citadel. There's an old advertising maxim that says it takes money to make money. It's true. That being said, Citadel is definitely in a heap of trouble and would likely be hard pressed to come up with the cash to do a real ad blitz, especially during a season when advertising space is at a premium. I'll have more on that in another thread. Following that thread, has there been much advertising for The Breeze doing Christmas? (And yes, I still think that was a mistake, but we'll see what the ratings say.) Everyone knows about FM100 and KOSY by now I'm sure, but what about the other players? The average listener isn't going to dial surf looking for who's playing what. You have to tell them. Without that, you're toast. |
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dolt
Member
hopping thither and yon
Posts: 89
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Post by dolt on Nov 21, 2008 13:55:49 GMT -6
Anecdotally I've heard that too, but I've yet to see any study that would indicate someone's shopping choices would be more influenced by a station running Christmas music as opposed to their normal rotation. Are people more inclined to start shopping early if the hear Christmas music? I don't think so, but I really don't know. I'd also be curious about what percentage of Christmas shopping is done at what time of year. Anybody know of any studies of either of those things? I don't know if it makes people shop. I posited that it makes it easier for a station to sell ads. |
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 21, 2008 23:56:24 GMT -6
I don't know if it makes people shop. I posited that it makes it easier for a station to sell ads. Very good point. But if advertising doesn't work for the store, why do it? Could be the same I'll-remember-it-later that I mentioned before, but I would be surprised if people remembered ads for that long. |
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dolt
Member
hopping thither and yon
Posts: 89
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Post by dolt on Nov 22, 2008 0:28:31 GMT -6
I don't know if it makes people shop. I posited that it makes it easier for a station to sell ads. Very good point. But if advertising doesn't work for the store, why do it? Could be the same I'll-remember-it-later that I mentioned before, but I would be surprised if people remembered ads for that long. The sponsor isn't always sure why purchases are made. I long ago stopped expecting people and businesses to always be rational. This is a big quarter for merchants though. |
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