Have A Jolly Small-Town Christmas

I am not going to make a “Yes, Virginia” joke — not even if I’m making you aware of Santa Claus, Ind., for the first time.

But if I did, WAXL Santa Claus, Ind., would be fine with it. The Hot AC station usually known as “The Fix” became Jolly 103.3 on Thanksgiving, marking the first time that the all-Christmas format has been on the town’s only licensed radio station. On Dec. 16, it will air a local performance of “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.” It was a natural “First Listen.”

As Ross on Radio surveys all-Christmas radio around the country. Jolly 103. was a prompt to listen to holiday radio in three small markets, including an ROR reader’s own station, and another recommended by Radio Locator. All three provided something beyond the PPM market version of the format. 

Here’s Jolly 103.3 on Nov. 27 around 10:20 a.m., using programming from Local Radio Networks, programmed by LRN’s Jonathon Steele and hosted by Ashley Ryan:

• Daryl Hall & John Oates, “Jingle Bell Rock”
• Anne Murray, “Joy to the World”
• Mel Torme, “The Christmas Song”
• Johnny Mathis, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
• Christopher Cross, “Christmas Time Is Here”
• Waitresses, “Christmas Wrapping”
• Jose Feliciano, “Feliz Navidad”
• Aaron Neville, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
• Mariah Carey, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
• Tony Bennett, “Winter Wonderland”
• Nat King Cole, “The First Noel”
• Wham!, “Last Christmas”
• Lindsey Stirling & Sabrina Carpenter, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”

KPMI (The Legends) Bemidji, Minn., MD/middayer Bradley Olson is a Division 1 fan of the Ross on Radio column. During the year, KPMI is a reliable source of Classic Country “oh wow” that I haven’t heard in decades. Now that the station is drawing on both pop and Country holiday music, there’s a proportionate depth in both artists and titles. Here’s KPMI at 8:15 a.m., Nov. 24:

• Amy Grant, “Christmas Hymn”
• ’N Sync, “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays”
• Bill Medley, “The First Noel”
• Carrie Underwood, “O Holy Night”
• Johnny Mathis, “Winter Wonderland”
• Baillie & the Boys, “Silent Night”
• Stan Freberg, “Green Christmas”
• Lonestar, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
• Buck Owens, “Christmas Shopping”
• Charley Pride, “Christmas in My Home Town”
• Oak Ridge Boys, “Thank God for Kids”
• Christina Aguilera, “Christmas Time”

Olson was also responsible for me visiting Radio-Locator.com for the first time in a while. In the time before streaming radio apps, looking for new listings on Radio-Locator was how I found new streaming stations. It’s still a resource for many, judging from its listing of the top three most-streamed Christmas formats. No. 1 is the recently profiled WLIT [93.9 Lite FM] Chicago. KPMI is No. 2.

The No. 3 holiday streaming station, according to Radio-Locator, is WBBX (B106.1) Pocomoke City, Md., on the Delmarva Peninsula. Usually a Classic Hits station, B106.1 was good for alternate versions of the warhorses, but also a station that plays new holiday currents. Here’s B106.1 on Nov. 23, just before 2 p.m.:

• Amy Grant, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
• Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Linus and Lucy”
• Brenda Lee, “Jingle Bell Rock”
• Rod Stewart, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
• Michael Bublé, “A Holly Jolly Christmas”
• Sarah Reeves, “Christmas Feels Different This Year”
• Bing Crosby, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
• Harry Connick, Jr., “It Must Have Been Ol’ Santa Claus”
• John Legend, “Please Come Home for Christmas”