A holly-jolly 4th of July?
By SHARON FINK
Published December 16, 2005
It's called stunting.
It's a radio industry term to describe gimmicky things like playing nothing but Elvis songs for 24 hours. Or "woodpecker noises for two weeks," said Tom Zarecki, director of public relations for Media Monitors, a company that monitors radio ads.
It also applies to playing nothing but holiday music from Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. Except there's nothing gimmicky about the ratings and advertising dollars this stunt generates.
We really love our Frosty. And Rudolph. And roasting chestnuts to a crisp.
"Those songs are so well received by listeners," Zarecki said. "They could be played all year long."
IT'S BECAUSE OF SEPT. 11: Seriously, Zarecki said.
After the terrorist attacks, some radio consultants came up with the all-holiday-music format to create "a feel-good feel" during the 2001 holiday season, he said. A handful of stations in a few small cities adopted it. When it was over, everyone said "That was nice" and figured that was the end of it. Until the Arbitron ratings for that period came out.
"Most of those stations went through the roof," Zarecki said.
By 2003, the number of stations doing the temporary switch was over 100. This year the number was 278 as of Monday, including the Tampa Bay area's WWRM-FM 94.9 and WLPJ-FM 91.5.
The ratings success continues, which leads to more advertisers and more advertiser dollars, and more clients playing the stations in their stores, which helps sell their products.
"It's probably the ultimate format," Zarecki said.
BUT NOT IF YOU DON'T LIKE HOLIDAY MUSIC: Last year, Media Monitors tracked the songs played on 50 all-holiday-music stations in the top 50 markets. That includes the Tampa Bay area (No. 19, according to Arbitron) and WWRM.
In regular rotation on the stations were 52 versions of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, the most of any song, Media Monitors found. No. 2 was Winter Wonderland with 46 versions and No. 3 The Christmas Song ("Chestnuts roasting ... ") with 41.
The most-heard artist was Frank Sinatra with 32 songs in rotation. No. 2 was Johnny Mathis (25 songs). The most-heard song by any artist was Nat King Cole's version of The Christmas Song.
FUN FACTS: Among the 10 most-heard songs by any artist, Media Monitors found none about the season's religious aspects. Also, Zarecki said, it's interesting this year that of the contemporary Christian stations being monitored, the most-played song is Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives.
The most-heard carol or religious song last year was Do You Hear What I Hear?
Back to the top 10 by a specific artist: Not one of those songs was recorded in the last 27 years. The most recent is Merry Christmas Darling by the Carpenters.
"It shows you how important familiarity is," Zarecki said. "There are contemporary artists (farther down) the list, but not one who has come up with a song that has massively succeeded to be played every year yet."
SO THE BIG QUESTION IS: If all holiday music all the time is such a big ratings- and money-grabber, how could a station resist trying it all year?
"Well, this music is very familiar and very well known, so you never know," Zarecki said. "(But) part of its value is that it is seasonal and will go away."
Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 and fink@sptimes.com