Since Halloween is just a few days away, we can start to get serious about Christmas music – mainly all Christmas music. “First in” in this format is a very powerful position, normally. So, if there is someone in your market already doing this, I would not recommend going up against them – unless you are going to change formats on New Year’s Day. That would, at least, be a way to draw a little more cume to your frequency and allow you to tease and promote that something new is on its way. That being said, this blog is for those who are already in the All Christmas Music Station position in the market.
P1 Media Group, headed by Ken Benson, a very well respected programmer and researcher, has just released its list of the top testing Christmas songs from 2019. (obviously, it would be hard to tell the top songs from 2020 right now) If you are a station that does not have access to research specific to your market, I would suggest that you check out P1’s list at www.p1mediagroup.com . When you do, you will see all the classic Christmas songs at or near the top. So, for those who would say that listeners are tired of these songs, you would be wrong.
If you are an All Christmas station, take a serious look at the Top 15, or so, songs. These are ones you could place in your power rotation and not worry. Remember, you need to have the same rotation in these as you would for your regular powers. You could take the top 13 and play three an hour and have a nice 4 hour rotation. I say 13 because you want to be able to vary the time in each hour where the song would play. The uneven number would do that. If you feel you should speed them up, then go to 11. Then fill in your rotations with the secondary and tertiary categories. This will give more of a variety feel, but remember that your listeners want to hear their favorites. If they tune in and don’t hear a big Christmas hit within a few minutes, they could be gone and leave feeling like you don’t really play their favorite Christmas songs.
If you are the All Christmas Music station, own that position and don’t let anyone talk you out of it. Say it “loud and proud”, because, if you do it right, you will reap big benefits.
