What Holiday Radio Added in 2023

When Classic Hits stations add new songs for the first time, they tend to spotlight the format’s move toward more recent music. Our most recent look at the new titles on a handful of prominent stations found the no-longer-“Oldies” format playing “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, “Ready or Not” by the Fugees, and “Raise Your Glass” by Pink.

Looking at the titles that have made it onto some prominent Christmas-music outlets this year is a different story. The difficulty of getting a new song into the Christmas-radio canon is well-documented. Those songs being played for the first time this year help identify not just the handful of newer titles competing at AC radio this year, many of them covers of holiday mainstays, but also some of the older catalog versions of Christmas staples, some going back to the ’50s and ’60s.

The top new title being played at AC is David Foster & Katharine McPhee’s new version of “Carol of the Bells,” No. 13 at this writing, which has the advantage of being a reworking of a title that Christmas stations were already playing heavily by Foster solo. Those are followed by Cher’s “DJ Play a Christmas Song” (No. 16 according to Mediabase), For King & Country f/Gabby Barrett’s “Go Tell It on the Mountain” (17), and a new Barry Manilow version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (24).

Does Cher have a chance of joining the new holiday-song pantheon as the years go by? The most-played original song from the last decade is Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” which got more than 400 spins at AC radio last week. By comparison, the most-played title is “Last Christmas” by Wham! That song got more than 900 spins, but Clarkson is usually considered a strong part of the Christmas canon now. 

Then there’s “Christmas Canon” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra with 515 spins; that song sort of counts by having firmly established Pachelbel’s “Canon” as part of the format. Train’s 2015 version of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” is the most successful recent cover, with 500 spins. 

Songs from the last few years with renewed traction in 2023 include Michael Bublé’s “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (245 spins), although that song was a 10-year reworking of an earlier version that was already part of the format. That’s followed by the Backstreet Boys’ “Last Christmas” (217), Lindsey Stirling’s “Joy to the World” (191), and Ed Sheeran & Elton John’s “Merry Christmas” (111 spins).  

Here’s are some of the non-2023 releases that Mediabase is showing as receiving their first spins this year at a cross-section of Christmas music outlets. Some are songs like the Miley Cyrus/Mark Ronson version of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” that are benefiting from Cyrus’ big year at radio in 2023. Some go back to the ’50s and ’60s, as radio digs deeper into catalog from Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Burl Ives. 

WLIT (93.9 Lite FM) Chicago gave its heaviest new airplay to Foster & McPhee (13 spins). Most of its recently revived songs are receiving a spin or two each week, although the Burl Ives song got six spins. Those include:

• Burl Ives, “Silver Bells” (1965)
• Lauren Daigle, “Jingle Bells” (2016)
• Miley Cyrus & Mark Ronson, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (2018)
• Jack Johnson, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” (2001)
• Michael Bolton, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (2006)

Lite FM’s iHeart sister station WNIC Detroit had similar “adds.” Its most-spun new song is also Foster & McPhee, but the top new “oldie” got 10 spins.

• Chicago, “White Christmas” (1999)
• Burl Ives, “Silver Bells” (1965)
• Lauren Daigle, “Jingle Bells” (2016)
• Michael Bolton, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (2006)
• Ricochet, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1996)
• Miley Cyrus & Mark Ronson, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (2018)

iHeart’s WLTW (Lite FM) New York only made its move last week, but this year it’s playing:

• Nat King Cole, “Frosty the Snowman” (1950)
• Fred Astaire, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (1970)
• Ray Conniff, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (1959)
• Kenny G, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (2005)

Beasley’s WKQC (K104.7) Charlotte, N.C., isn’t playing any 2023 songs yet, but is giving a few first-time spins to a handful of relatively recent titles:

• Sia, “Snowman” (2017)
• Jonas Brothers, “Like It’s Christmas” (2019)
• Gwen Stefani w/Blake Shelton, “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” (2017)

Townsquare’s WTRV (The River) Grand Rapids, Mich., was one of the stations with the most extensive new library additions. I’m only showing songs getting 10x a week or more, but other adds include 5x spins for Bing Crosby’s 1962 version of “Frosty the Snowman” and two for Frank Sinatra’s 1957 version of “The Christmas Song.”

• Taylor Swift, “Christmas Tree Farm” (2019)
• Sia, “Snowman” (2017)
• Faith Hill, “Joy to the World” (2008)
• A-Strings, “Sleigh Ride” (1998)
• Colbie Caillat, “Winter Wonderland” (2012)
• Pentatonix f/Whitney Houston, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” (2019)

Cumulus’ WMEZ Pensacola, Fla., also went way back on a few titles, such as Judy Garland’s 1944 version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” At the new end, it’s also giving the Cher song 22x spins this week. These are its 10x+ titles, most of which are receiving new airplay comparable to the Cher song:

• Backstreet Boys, “Last Christmas” (2022)
• Pentatonix f/Meghan Trainor, “Kid on Christmas” (2022)
• Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande, “Santa Did You Hear Me” (2021)
• John Legend, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (2019)
• Frozen f/Kristen Bell, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” (2013) — 11x a week, unlike the others

New South’s WJKK (Mix 98.7) Jackson, Miss., is one of the stations most supporting new AC currents. Besides Foster & McPhee and For King & Country, it’s also in the 7-8 spin range on 2023 holiday originals from Sarah Reeves, Laura Bryna, and Smith. Its new library additions are around the 5-6x mark.

• Jewel, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (1999)
• Gwen Stefani w/Blake Shelton, “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” (2017)
• Gwen Stefani, “White Christmas” (2017)
• Pentatonix, “The Little Drummer Boy” (2013)

Finally, Cox’s WDUV Tampa, which like WLIT was one of our first Christmas radio monitors last year, had only one new title receiving significant spins this week. That was the Backstreet Boys’ version of “Last Christmas” at 5x.

Ross on Radio’s holiday coverage continues through the end of the year. We’ll follow the new releases and adds of some late entrants if any interesting trends emerge as the season continues.