It seems like an inevitability. Having been last year’s most-played Christmas song, according to Mediabase, wouldn’t Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” be the first song played by most stations flipping to an all-holiday format?
Not for everybody.
Soft AC WLIT (Lite FM) Chicago, one of the most successful and closely watched Christmas stations, signed on last Friday at 3 p.m. with Mariah. But none of its iHeart brethren among the early holiday launches did.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mediabase shows 20 stations around the country having gone all-Christmas, most of them Mainstream ACs, but also a few Hot ACs and two Christian AC stations. Mariah launched the largest number of those — five stations — but there were actually 10 different songs used to kick off the holidays.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” – So saturated that I always wonder if this is the year people are going to lose their enthusiasm. But I’ve asked that question before. Besides WLIT, Mariah had the first song on Cox’s WDUV Tampa; Townsquare’s WTSS (The New 96.1) Buffalo, N.Y.; WYJB (B95.5) Albany, N.Y.; and WLTC (103.7) Columbus, Ga.
“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is second, but only if you count both of its best-known versions. WHUD Hudson Valley, N.Y., and WJKK (Mix 98.7) Jackson, Miss., launched with Andy Williams. (So did KESZ Phoenix a day later and WTOJ Watertown, N.Y.) Soft AC KBEB (The Breeze) Sacramento, Calif., went with Johnny Mathis. (To some extent, which version you choose may depend on which other songs by either artist you want to play during the first hour.)
“The Christmas Song” was the first song on two stations, but while WFBC-HD-4 (Magic 106.3) Greenville, S.C., played it by Nat King Cole, Christian AC WAKW (Star 93.3) Cincinnati went with Michael Bublé.
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” was the first song for WXMA Louisville, Ky., and WMHX Madison, Wis., and both opted for the Dean Martin version.
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” — The Jackson 5 version was a very cool choice for iHeart’s WMAG Greensboro, N.C., and WMXL (Mix 94.5) Lexington, Ky. Because of Michael Jackson, they’re the holiday artist probably most represented on Mainstream AC during the rest of the year.
“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” — Both Summit holiday stations so far, KSRZ Omaha and WVEZ Louisville, launched at Midnight Friday with the Kenny G version.
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” received almost as much attention as “All I Want for Christmas Is You” last year, finally making it to No. 1 on the Hot 100. But only WMOV (Movin’ 107.7) Norfolk, Va., has used it so far, and by LeAnn Rimes, not Brenda Lee.
“Jingle Bells” by Frank Sinatra has been on the ascent in recent years. It was the first song on WSHH (Wish 99.7) Pittsburgh.
“Step Into Christmas” by Elton John was, for a while, one of those songs that waned a little when stations began testing their holiday music. It seems more prominent again, in part because of John’s own resurgence. It was the launch song for WSRW (Star 105.7) Grand Rapids, Mich., although that station played it coming out of a stopset at 6:57 a.m. Friday and then went into “All I Want for Christmas.”
“We Need a Little Christmas” — the Percy Faith Orchestra version – was the song that KFIS (The Fish) Portland, Ore., played at 9 a.m. Tuesday, as it positioned its Christmas-music flip as an answer to Election Day anxiety.
At this writing, there are other holiday stations planning to launch tomorrow. Some of the surprise omissions from the above list will have likely been used by then. But in the first five days, nobody had used “Last Christmas” — last year’s most-played Christmas song at AC. Also missing, so far: “Feliz Navidad,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” — one that I’ve used before as the first holiday song. (The Bobby Helms version of “Jingle Bell Rock” was the first song on WJJR Rutland, Vt.)
Ross on Radio is covering holiday-music programming all season long. We’ve taken a more in-depth look at four of the first Christmas outlets, getting a sense of not just the music, but the tone that stations are taking this holiday. You can also read our own perennial holiday favorite: “What I Learned from Scheduling Christmas Music.”
