Dear Crabby, What’s Going on with Christmas Music on the Radio?
Sincerely, Kristin Jingle
Dear Kristin,
As it stands we have one radio station playing holiday music 24/7 leading up to the night that the fat man in red drops in and drops off the presents. He brings them, but I still get the bill somehow.
Anyway, last year and part of this year, we had two – count them, two – Detroit radio stations doing holiday music from just after Halloween until Christmas Day. That’s nearly two full months of Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman! WNIC (100.3) had been the go-to station every year, I even mentioned it in a column back in 2014. But when I found 98.7, The Breeze in November of 2019, I found my new go-to Christmas station. WNIC was nice, but they often played the same 10 songs, every hour, with very little deviation. The Breeze stepped up the Christmas music game and took over as my favorite – all the hits, the standards, and those rare relics too, such as Dominick the Donkey (The Italian Christmas Donkey)! It was heaven!
But then, last week while listening to Kim Adams (the D.J. on at the time) it went from Gene Autry to something called Nirvana. The Breeze changed like the wind and the music went from lovey and charming to a bunch of noise and screaming. I’m guessing that’s what happened in your world too – here we had this great station that really knew how to play the holiday tunes everyone loved, then the Grinch stepped in and took it all away.
So, here’s what happened. There’s this other station on the FM dial that played what’s called Alternative Rock or New Rock or Modern Rock – whatever – and with 30 years of doing it, they decided to go county. Good for them. But that got The Breeze thinking they should abandon the holiday music format (halfway to Christmas) and try to fill that Rock Alternative gap. They should have at least waited until the first of the year, right?
But they did not. WNIC went from being Detroit’s Christmas Music Station to being Detroit’s ONLY Christmas Music Station. And I’ve switched back. I don’t really have a choice now do I, but I like what I’m hearing so far. It seems, they got the hint when holiday music fans like me started tuning into their competition and they started playing a much better variety of holiday tunes. Keep up the good work WNIC, please.
I hope that answers your question, we’re all back listening to 100.3 as our go-to Christmas Music Station. It’s our only choice for 24/7 holiday music, but it’s good one … at least for now.
Happy Holidays, Dear Crabby
Stuck in a rut? Need some biased advice from a crabby old baby-boomer? Then email me your question at dearcrabby@rochestermedia.com. You can also head on over to my Facebook page and tell me how wonderful I am.
Hey! Check out K-Love 90.3, a low power station in Rochester. They’re playing Christmas music 24/7. Nice variety too.