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Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Discussion pertaining to Lansing, Jackson, Owosso, and all areas from Alma to Hillsdale
Realist
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Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by Realist » Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:19 pm

Drove through the Lansing area Thursday evening and heard Christmas music on here. Only stopped to listen as they were playing Mannheim Steamroller. Surprised no one had mentioned it yet. When did they flip?



Sholmes
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by Sholmes » Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:50 pm

Way too soon.

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ChrisWL1980
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:47 pm

I noticed Christmas music on 1180 AM on Thursday. They did it this early last year too.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by MWmetalhead » Mon Nov 08, 2021 6:26 am

Their regular playlist is so outrageously tedious that this is a rare instance where I think an all-Christmas playlist is an improvement!



ChrisWL1980
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Mon Nov 08, 2021 6:10 pm

Much as I like the Soft AC format, I have to agree with MW even though I'm not ready for Christmas music yet. They've tightened up their playlist, added more current/recurrent music and sound almost indistinguishable from WFMK now. I listen to WXLA to get away from garbage like Camila Cabello. I much prefer their sister station The Bay in Saginaw.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by MWmetalhead » Tue Nov 09, 2021 5:10 pm

Whenever I've sampled the station, the music sounds like something that would be popular in nursing homes. Just unbearably boring and sappy. Reminds me of EZ 105.7 from Grand Rapids in the early 90s; that station at least didn't have mushy processing.



whitebalance
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by whitebalance » Tue Nov 09, 2021 7:13 pm

Christmas music this early. Easy and cheap over done promotion.



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Calvert DeForest
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by Calvert DeForest » Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:52 am

A lot of stations flip to Christmas music shortly after Halloween. The early All-Christmas format really took shape in 2001 during the season following 9/11. I remember when Star 105.7 made the flip in early November with the tag line because we need a little Christmas NOW! It was the first time I heard an All-Christmas format prior to the holiday itself. Prior to then many stations would add Christmas songs to their regular rotations starting after Thanksgiving and increase the frequency leading up to Christmas Eve when it jumped to 100% for the holiday. The early switch to continuous Christmas formats proved to be a ratings boost for a lot of stations, and the concept stuck.

But hey, I can gorge myself on non-stop Hallmark Christmas movies for the next two months. Hokey and predictable as they are, they make for a feel-good moment, like a cup of hot cocoa and a warm sugar cookie! :razz


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Robert Faygo
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by Robert Faygo » Wed Nov 10, 2021 12:03 pm

Follow the money.

Christmas shopping now starts earlier than ever. If you're a retailer, you want to reach as many people as possible that are "in" to Christmas as early as possible - before they click the Add to Cart button on Amazon.


Wellllll... la de frickin da

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Calvert DeForest
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by Calvert DeForest » Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:21 pm

Christmas is a religious season that begins December 25th and continues through the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. The four weeks leading up to Christmas are the season of Advent. Of course the Madison Avenue version is a different entity.

While I enjoy certain aspects of the secular holiday season, I have to remind myself to distinguish the glitter and the lights from the true spiritual seasons and the meanings they hold. Charles Schulz called it in 1965 when Linus made the now-famous observation that Christmas is becoming too commercial. I doubt even Schulz could have envisioned the expansion of holiday commercialism in the 56 years since.


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ChrisWL1980
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:34 pm

Calvert DeForest wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:52 am
A lot of stations flip to Christmas music shortly after Halloween. The early All-Christmas format really took shape in 2001 during the season following 9/11. I remember when Star 105.7 made the flip in early November with the tag line because we need a little Christmas NOW! It was the first time I heard an All-Christmas format prior to the holiday itself. Prior to then many stations would add Christmas songs to their regular rotations starting after Thanksgiving and increase the frequency leading up to Christmas Eve when it jumped to 100% for the holiday. The early switch to continuous Christmas formats proved to be a ratings boost for a lot of stations, and the concept stuck.

But hey, I can gorge myself on non-stop Hallmark Christmas movies for the next two months. Hokey and predictable as they are, they make for a feel-good moment, like a cup of hot cocoa and a warm sugar cookie! :razz
100.5 The River in GR was going all-Christmas after Thanksgiving as early as 1998. So was 101.5 The River in Toledo. If I'm not mistaken it was 920 WOKY in Milwaukee, then a standards outlet, that pioneered the all-Christmas format around 1995. But it didn't seem to really become a widespread thing until 2001. I still remember getting back to college after the Thanksgiving break that year and finding out that EZ105.7 had morphed into Star 105.7 with continuous Christmas music. Delilah must have already been offering an all-Christmas version of her show then because they went pretty seamlessly into that.
My memory is that they didn't switch until after Thanksgiving and that moving it up earlier and earlier each year was something that happened in the ensuing years once they found out it got ratings and revenue, but I could be wrong. I just remember it made a nice soundtrack for that evening when I and the other members of the Aquinas College Music Club got together to decorate the Music Center building on campus.
105.7 was also the default all-Christmas station for Lansing for a time, because IIRC WFMK didn't start switching on a regular basis until a couple of years ago. (They're still in regular music as I type this.) WXLA played continuous Christmas music when they were on the ABC "Timeless" and then WW1 "America's Best Music" satellites, but not having a translator then, they obviously couldn't serve as a soundtrack for evening parties and tree decoration.



gotigers
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by gotigers » Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:37 pm

ChrisWL1980 wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:34 pm
105.7 was also the default all-Christmas station for Lansing for a time, because IIRC WFMK didn't start switching on a regular basis until a couple of years ago. (They're still in regular music as I type this.) WXLA played continuous Christmas music when they were on the ABC "Timeless" and then WW1 "America's Best Music" satellites, but not having a translator then, they obviously couldn't serve as a soundtrack for evening parties and tree decoration.

WFMK has been doing Christmas music since 2010, but they generally wait until the day of Lansing's Silver Bells in the City. Prior to 2010, Lansing's Christmas station was 94.1 WVIC for a few years. Living in Jackson at the time, I also recall getting 24/7 Christmas music from Mix 104.9 in Battle Creek around this time. Plus, Home.fm (106.9) out of Spring Arbor University also flips to Christmas music on Thanksgiving or the day after (albeit with a more Christian slant to the music selection), so there were three options for around the clock Christmas music in Jackson for a couple years.



ChrisWL1980
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Thu Nov 11, 2021 7:36 pm

gotigers wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:37 pm
ChrisWL1980 wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:34 pm
105.7 was also the default all-Christmas station for Lansing for a time, because IIRC WFMK didn't start switching on a regular basis until a couple of years ago. (They're still in regular music as I type this.) WXLA played continuous Christmas music when they were on the ABC "Timeless" and then WW1 "America's Best Music" satellites, but not having a translator then, they obviously couldn't serve as a soundtrack for evening parties and tree decoration.

WFMK has been doing Christmas music since 2010, but they generally wait until the day of Lansing's Silver Bells in the City. Prior to 2010, Lansing's Christmas station was 94.1 WVIC for a few years. Living in Jackson at the time, I also recall getting 24/7 Christmas music from Mix 104.9 in Battle Creek around this time. Plus, Home.fm (106.9) out of Spring Arbor University also flips to Christmas music on Thanksgiving or the day after (albeit with a more Christian slant to the music selection), so there were three options for around the clock Christmas music in Jackson for a couple years.
I completely forgot about WVIC's time as Soft Rock 94.1. Guess Christmas music didn't help them much.
Now that you mention it, Home.FM had a translator originally on 104.7 and now on 98.3 (and retransmitting 89.3 The Arbor) in Lansing. With Home now on 106.9 alone and the former translators all rebroadcasting WJKN-FM, their more unique blend of Christmas music will have a much smaller footprint this year.
One other Lansing-area signal that does all Christmas is 95.3 Shine.FM (translating 100.7 HD2).



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Calvert DeForest
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by Calvert DeForest » Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:46 am

ChrisWL1980 wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:34 pm
100.5 The River in GR was going all-Christmas after Thanksgiving as early as 1998. So was 101.5 The River in Toledo. If I'm not mistaken it was 920 WOKY in Milwaukee, then a standards outlet, that pioneered the all-Christmas format around 1995. But it didn't seem to really become a widespread thing until 2001.
I was unaware that 100.5 The River had started the format that early. Makes sense that it would originate with an AM Adult Standards station as it would be a perfect niche for that format. A friend of mine worked the 7-midnight shift at WGHN in Grand Haven during the early 90's when the station aired all Christmas music in the evenings between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As I recall they also programmed it in all weekend dayparts. The local merchants were big on it because it was something they could play in their establishments during peak business hours. I remember visiting him in the studio and thinking what an odd concept it was at the time. Little did I know....

Some stations have stunted with the All-Christmas approach between format flips dating back to the 90's (perhaps even before then). WLS-FM in Chicago flipped to Christmas music for a month while transitioning from Talk to Country. Think that was around 1995-96. Before the format became a staple it was more of an indicator that a new format was coming after the holidays.


Shortwave is the ORIGINAL satellite radio.

ChrisWL1980
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Re: Easy 93 flips to Christmas music

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Fri Nov 12, 2021 5:54 pm

Calvert DeForest wrote:
Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:46 am
ChrisWL1980 wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:34 pm
100.5 The River in GR was going all-Christmas after Thanksgiving as early as 1998. So was 101.5 The River in Toledo. If I'm not mistaken it was 920 WOKY in Milwaukee, then a standards outlet, that pioneered the all-Christmas format around 1995. But it didn't seem to really become a widespread thing until 2001.
I was unaware that 100.5 The River had started the format that early. Makes sense that it would originate with an AM Adult Standards station as it would be a perfect niche for that format. A friend of mine worked the 7-midnight shift at WGHN in Grand Haven during the early 90's when the station aired all Christmas music in the evenings between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As I recall they also programmed it in all weekend dayparts. The local merchants were big on it because it was something they could play in their establishments during peak business hours. I remember visiting him in the studio and thinking what an odd concept it was at the time. Little did I know....

Some stations have stunted with the All-Christmas approach between format flips dating back to the 90's (perhaps even before then). WLS-FM in Chicago flipped to Christmas music for a month while transitioning from Talk to Country. Think that was around 1995-96. Before the format became a staple it was more of an indicator that a new format was coming after the holidays.
I had completely forgotten about WGHN doing all-Christmas in the evenings around that time. If memory serves that was the default all-Christmas station for Muskegon as well until Star 108 started (now WMUS) making the switch, which I think was in 2001, the same year as Star 105.7.

If I'm not mistaken, WRVF in Toledo started it in 1995, which was the year they changed from being WLQR. I'm not sure if they still do it but 96.1 WMTR in Archbold, Ohio has also done it in years past, an interesting move for a station that is basically Classic Rock.



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