Media Minute: It’s Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Christmas (on the Radio)
Radio stations playing Christmas music during the holidays is a custom that has endured throughout the years. And while most radio listeners indeed enjoy Christmas music during the holidays there are some data points stations should consider when going all in on Rudolph, Kris Kringle, et al.
We asked over 700 radio listeners from across the country how they feel about Christmas music. Here are the results of our study.
First off, 58% of radio listeners state to ‘love’ Christmas music. That’s a good sign that your station, format appropriate, should play Christmas music. 76% of radio listeners at least ‘like’ Christmas music. 15% say they are neutral towards holiday tunes, and that means they aren’t going to immediately turn the dial away from your station if that Mariah Carey staple comes on. 9% are not exactly in a festive mood come the holiday season (5% ‘dislike it’, and an anti-Xmas 3% ‘Hate it’). So all in all a ballpark 91% of radio listeners are up for the seasonal jams, or at least not repulsed by holiday cheer.
An enthusiastic 15% percent are ready to dive headfirst into the Xmas spirit before Thanksgiving. 23% state that Thanksgiving is the day on which to stack the seasonal tunes into your rotations. According to listeners, this is a little on the earlier side as well. 38% say that December 1st is the best time to start cranking the Christmas numbers making it the holiday sweet spot. It’s early enough to not disappoint the Xmas stans but you’re not alienating the neutrals or those less inclined towards to ‘Jingle Bell Rock’.
A notable 45% of radio listeners require ‘a mix of everything’ when it comes to the many subgenres of Christmas music. The data indicates that stations should mostly stick to the Traditional Classics and Modern Pop staples while sprinkling in some of the deeper cuts. Maybe lead more with tunes like ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! rather than obscure European Christmas tracks from the early 20th century like ‘Weihnachtslied der Hirten’ by Christof Fr. D. Schubart.
And that’s it from us here at Crowd React Media!
