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Post by kenmartin on Nov 11, 2013 20:27:21 GMT -5
Here's the facts on Christmas music. It's a ratings winner. For every person who complains, there are at least 2 or 3 more who are thrilled. That translates into ratings gold. More ratings means that stations can charge the advertiser more money per spot during the next quarter (or until the next ratings period ends). With critical analysis of the ratings data, the change in listenership can be directly attributed to Christmas music. I've been in radio since 1979 and have yet to see an instance where the ratings bump didn't hold true. In the end, it's all about how much money a station can make. AT40 is a money maker, it has a following (obviously) and is popular. A huge percentage of the adult population recognize the name Casey Kasem (with the exception perhaps of Macklemore on "The Colbert Report"). It adds to the bottom line of the station during the rest of the year. The Christmas shows allow a station to have the best of both worlds. Just thinking out loud ... and Ken, I welcome your response. From a radio station's perspective, we know profit is the bottom line. So if AT40 is a money maker carried by the Casey Kasem image, why aren't the vintage AT40 shows from the 70s or 80s heard in New York City? Are NYC stations so flush with cash that they can rise above this programming gem? You raise a good question, Pete. I certainly don't speak for those stations, just my own experience and my own opinion. I believe there is value in having Casey associated with my station (possibly colored by the fact that I'm a fan). The NYC stations may not see it that way, or perhaps my perception of the value of Casey isn't bore out in a PPM (Personal People Meter) market. Many things have changed over the years, and with the PPM, each and every song can be analysed to ensure that the audience wasn't "turned off" and tuned out. I know the first hour of each AT40 has a few songs contained within that even make me cringe (which is why some stations don't carry the first hour of the 80's show). If my opinion of AT40 were proven to be inaccurate, than as a Program Director, I would need to re-evaluate the merits of the show ... even though I would privately mourn the loss. |
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Post by kenmartin on Nov 11, 2013 20:44:14 GMT -5
My follow-up to Pete's question would be: how do stations decide when to do the Christmas flip? I've always known stations like WTOJ to go to Christmas music on (or near) Black Friday, yet this year you guys made the transition over the last weekend, which seems very early. Even last year, CKWS went to all-XMas a week before Thanksgiving. Just down the road in CNY, there's the station that went all-XMas a month ago. Is there an element of racing to being 'First!' in the market to make that transition? Week-to-week evaluations and crunching of numbers where a station could arbitrarily switch at any old time? Is there any research out there to determine a tipping point as to how early is too early? Another excellent set of questions. Thanksgiving is late this year which is part of the reason why WTOJ went Christmas early (more time spent in Christmas music = more ratings). Perhaps it was a week early, but many other stations across the country flipped this weekend as well (according to Mediabase Research) No research, which I'm aware of, has posed the question "what is TOO early." Personally, the stations down in Syracuse which flipped a week before Halloween IS too early in my book, but having worked for Mediabase, it's not the first time I've seen stations flip before Halloween. Premiere chose this past weekend to offer the first Christmas Casey program so there must some merit. In a market where there is more than 1 Christmas music station, the pressure to flip before the competition does is fierce. I've seen a market with a history of just one station flipping suddenly being sent into a frenzy when an unexpected station made the flip. That sent the other station scrambling to make the flip quickly, days before they were ready. Many big markets have 2, 3 or more all Christmas stations. No one wants to be left out of the Christmas bump. |
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Post by statenislandfan on Nov 11, 2013 20:49:54 GMT -5
Here's the facts on Christmas music. It's a ratings winner. For every person who complains, there are at least 2 or 3 more who are thrilled. That translates into ratings gold. More ratings means that stations can charge the advertiser more money per spot during the next quarter (or until the next ratings period ends). With critical analysis of the ratings data, the change in listenership can be directly attributed to Christmas music. I've been in radio since 1979 and have yet to see an instance where the ratings bump didn't hold true. In the end, it's all about how much money a station can make. AT40 is a money maker, it has a following (obviously) and is popular. A huge percentage of the adult population recognize the name Casey Kasem (with the exception perhaps of Macklemore on "The Colbert Report"). It adds to the bottom line of the station during the rest of the year. The Christmas shows allow a station to have the best of both worlds. Just thinking out loud ... and Ken, I welcome your response. From a radio station's perspective, we know profit is the bottom line. So if AT40 is a money maker carried by the Casey Kasem image, why aren't the vintage AT40 shows from the 70s or 80s heard in New York City? Are NYC stations so flush with cash that they can rise above this programming gem? Thank You Pete ! When WLTW did this experiment years ago for the first time, The ratings went through the roof. Z100, a Clear Channel station, in NYC that was playing 24 hours of Christmas as a holiday tradition stopped playing Christmas music . Yes, WLTW did play the AT10 Christmas specials. Both stations are Clear Channel stations. |
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Post by michaelcasselman on Nov 11, 2013 21:23:14 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply, Ken. You know, even as I look at the schedule and how this seemed to be the week across the board where stations made the change, Thanksgiving being as late as it is this year seems to have been a major factor that was "planned" (for lack of better term) by Premiere. As I look back at last year, I think I recorded all of the available Christmas specials (the same as this years, IIRC) in, say, two weeks less than the number of shows available (between WTOJ and CKWS).
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Post by kenmartin on Nov 11, 2013 21:29:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply, Ken. You know, even as I look at the schedule and how this seemed to be the week across the board where stations made the change, Thanksgiving being as late as it is this year seems to have been a major factor that was "planned" (for lack of better term) by Premiere. As I look back at last year, I think I recorded all of the available Christmas specials (the same as this years, IIRC) in, say, two weeks less than the number of shows available (between WTOJ and CKWS). Last year, I held onto the Christmas show (I, meaning WTOJ) so that I could run different shows for the 70's and the 80's show (one on Saturday, one on Sunday). That wasn't the way Premiere offered them. I believe it was also the 2nd weekend in November in 2012 where Premiere started to offer the Christmas programming (I could be wrong since I don't have the copy of the 2012 schedule in front of me.) |
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Post by Dale Latimer on Nov 11, 2013 22:01:43 GMT -5
They don't list WNSN (South Bend) yet. Last year I recall they flipped November 30th, as the usual show Dec. 2nd was not aired. dL |
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Post by Mike on Nov 11, 2013 22:41:08 GMT -5
I believe it was also the 2nd weekend in November in 2012 where Premiere started to offer the Christmas programming (I could be wrong since I don't have the copy of the 2012 schedule in front of me.) After much digging (not a regular 70s listener to remember instantly), it looks like you are correct that it was the second weekend in November last year. Best guess is a post from Mike Eiland (of WODC) around then: WODC is going with the issued programming of Casey Kasem's shows with a different episode each week. In most of these cases, the shows are really from American Top 10 and American Top 20, which had a bunch of Christmas specials over the years. This week's show is from American Top 20, which counts down the Top 30 Christmas Hots Of All Time. All shows are still three hours. The next few weeks will include a show titled "Christmas At The Movies" and there is a two-parter just called "Holiday Edition" (from American Top 10 I believe). Another two-parter is a Top 60 Christmas Countdown. The real nice prize scheduled for December 23 is the American Top 40 Christmas countdown from December 25, 1971! More info to come. A schedule will be printed on this Web page so you'll know what's coming and when. www.oldies933fm.com/pages/pp_mikeeiland.html I get a chuckle when I talk about this weekend's "American Top 40 - The 70s" edition actually coming from "American Top 20" which counts down the "Top 30 Christmas Hits Of All Time."  |
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Post by Dale Latimer on Nov 11, 2013 22:47:03 GMT -5
Just thinking out loud ... and Ken, I welcome your response. From a radio station's perspective, we know profit is the bottom line. So if AT40 is a money maker carried by the Casey Kasem image, why aren't the vintage AT40 shows from the 70s or 80s heard in New York City? Are NYC stations so flush with cash that they can rise above this programming gem? Thank You Pete ! When WLTW did this experiment years ago for the first time, The ratings went through the roof. Z100, a Clear Channel station, in NYC that was playing 24 hours of Christmas as a holiday tradition stopped playing Christmas music . Yes, WLTW did play the AT10 Christmas specials. Both stations are Clear Channel stations. I live close enough to NY to follow the scene there, and I don't believe either WLTW or CBS-FM wants to set aside the considerable variety both have for the three or four hours of a Casey show. I say this even though CBS-FM still runs D!ck Bartley countdowns that are month-and-year-specific. dL |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2013 9:06:30 GMT -5
I believe it was also the 2nd weekend in November in 2012 where Premiere started to offer the Christmas programming (I could be wrong since I don't have the copy of the 2012 schedule in front of me.) After much digging (not a regular 70s listener to remember instantly), it looks like you are correct that it was the second weekend in November last year. Best guess is a post from Mike Eiland (of WODC) around then: WODC is going with the issued programming of Casey Kasem's shows with a different episode each week. In most of these cases, the shows are really from American Top 10 and American Top 20, which had a bunch of Christmas specials over the years. This week's show is from American Top 20, which counts down the Top 30 Christmas Hots Of All Time. All shows are still three hours. The next few weeks will include a show titled "Christmas At The Movies" and there is a two-parter just called "Holiday Edition" (from American Top 10 I believe). Another two-parter is a Top 60 Christmas Countdown. The real nice prize scheduled for December 23 is the American Top 40 Christmas countdown from December 25, 1971! More info to come. A schedule will be printed on this Web page so you'll know what's coming and when. www.oldies933fm.com/pages/pp_mikeeiland.html I get a chuckle when I talk about this weekend's "American Top 40 - The 70s" edition actually coming from "American Top 20" which counts down the "Top 30 Christmas Hits Of All Time." And IIRC, they repeated one of the Christmas music shows in December as well. I know they are all repeats but I mean a second time in the same season. |
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Post by Dale Latimer on Nov 13, 2013 23:34:39 GMT -5
^I'm still not sure about the "Holiday Edition" supposedly on "that list" for the weekend just before the holiday this year. Some have said it'll be an encore of 1971, but as countdownmike noted last year, it could be a show derived from AT10/20 (if it's the first of two parts, like what he mentioned, when would the second part have aired?).
dL
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Post by billyonaire on Nov 14, 2013 1:33:37 GMT -5
The programs called "Holiday Edition 1" and "Holiday Edition 2" which aired last year weren't actually 2 parts of a countdown. They were the first and second of the "An American Top 10 Christmas" specials which each had 3 hours of Christmas songs played in no particular order.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2013 6:40:36 GMT -5
^I'm still not sure about the "Holiday Edition" supposedly on "that list" for the weekend just before the holiday this year. Some have said it'll be an encore of 1971, but as countdownmike noted last year, it could be a show derived from AT10/20 (if it's the first of two parts, like what he mentioned, when would the second part have aired?). dL I am saying they DID repeat one last year I believe. Either last year or the year before. I remember some of us thinking they'd finally run the 3rd Christmas music show they originally recorded in 2004 but I don't believe has been heard since that year, but they didn't. Every year, it's always the one from 2005, first 2 from 2004, and the Top 60 from 2004. Last year they had an extra week to do so and they ran a repeat of one of the others they already aired instead. |
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Post by billyonaire on Nov 14, 2013 17:26:37 GMT -5
None of the Christmas programs repeated last year.
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Post by Michael on Nov 15, 2013 9:02:58 GMT -5
Crap KLOU went Christmas. I hope they play Casey at its normal time like they did last year.
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Post by secretman on Nov 16, 2013 9:46:59 GMT -5
WMMX went Christmas  |
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