From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1966

Many Top 40 Stations Dropping Format for Christmas Holidays

NEW YORK — Many Hot 100 format radio stations — including WMCA, New York; WTRY, Troy, N.Y.; and WKNR, Detroit – are dropping completely their usual format for Christmas.

In the case of WMCA, the station will program Christmas records from Christmas Eve, through 1 p.m. Christmas Day, at which time it will go back to the hits. Ruth Myers, program director of the rock ‘n’ roll powerhouse, said the station began playing some Christmas records like “Sleep In Heavenly Peace (Silent Night),” by Columbia Records’ Barbra Streisand and “We Need A Little Christmas,” by the New Christie Minstrels of Columbia Records, right after Thanksgiving Day. Play of these records were limited to one per deejay show. The last week before the holidays, Myers said, “we’ll play all records and lean a little heavily on the Christmas records that might be making it.”

Frank Maruca, program director of Hot 100-formated WKNR, said he’d be holding back on Christmas records until the week before Christmas. WKNR will play one Christmas tune an hour; on Sunday, two per hour; Monday, three per hour; at 3 p.m. Christmas Eve the station will switch to a temporary all-Christmas format that includes everything from “Jingle Bell Rock” to songs by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

WTRY in Troy-Albany-Schenectady, N. Y., has been playing some Christmas records that fit its format, though this means not playing as many as holiday records as most stations, said general manager Arthur Simmers. But at 5 p.m. Christmas Eve,the station will devote its programming to Christmas records exclusively without commercials.  It has been the pattern of most stations in the past too early, said Simmers, “driving it into the ground so that by Christmas it was irritating to hear it.” On the other hand, he felt it didn’t make any sense risking the possibility of offending any sizable segment of a radio station’s audience by ignoring the significance of Christmas Day. So, why airplay was limited to the hit Christmas items during the Holidays, Christmas Day would be devoted to the holiday spirit — “The season isn’t that different, but the day is.”

As of a week ago, WKDA, the Hot 100 format station in Nashville, hasn’t played any Christmas product though program director Dick Buckley said he would play some as it grows closer to Christmas . . . . tunes like Elvis Presley‘s “If Every Day Was Like Christmas.” However, he said, he didn’t know of many Christmas tunes which would improve his programming. “This is strictly my own opinion, but I heard people say they are tired of Christmas music after hearing it since Thanksgiving Day. I feel there is no Christmas record this year that people are clamoring to hear. Top 40 radio programs what people want to hear, but it seems like every year stations are playing less and less Christmas music.”

‘Little Undecided’

George Brewer, the new program director at WIXY, Cleveland, also said he wasn’t programming any Christmas tunes and was a “little undecided” about the matter. He said he’d probably wait until the mood hit a couple of days before Christmas, then gradually work in more and more of the holiday records. “Christmas,” he said, “is a hard time of the year to program a station.”

Rudy Runnells, music director of WOL, the Washington R&B formatted station, said he would probably wait until the last week, starting with two tunes an hour and increase to four-to-five plays. The problem? “I just don’t see where traditional Christmas music can be formatted. It’s almost sacrilegious to play it, though there are a few new records that may demand attention. He said the station gained listeners last year by limiting two Christmas tunes to two an hour the week of Christmas the week of Christmas. These were R&B Christmas records. Everybody plays the Christmas records anyway, and usually the same records. For us to do so, would be violating our own format. We’d lose a lot of listeners.”

Program Hymns

WJJD, Chicago’s country music operation, launched Christmas country music December 1 and on December 15 began programming hymns and traditional music, said program director Chris Lane. WNEW, New York “easy listening” giant, began playing one Christmas tune an hour Saturday (December 3) and last week stepped up the airplay of Christmas Records to two an hour. The biggest project of the station, however, will be the taping of a live half-hour show starring Harry Belafonte which will be aired Christmas Day.

Triange, producer of a holiday marathon package labeled “30 Hours Of Christmas,” has lined up more than 135 stations nationwide to carry Christmas music from 6 p.m. Christmas Eve through midnight on Christmas Day. The show, updated each year since it was launched in 1962, features more than 300 artists. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; December 24, 1966)