Word: holidaying
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...LIVING: Holiday cookbooks...
SHOOT TO KILL: A family holiday hunting trip turns deadly. Did race play a role in the massacre...
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. And sing. And sing. Five years ago, just a handful of local radio stations would switch to an all-Christmas-music format a day or two before the holiday. Now, nearly 240 stations across the country have gone all Christmas, all the time, even before the Thanksgiving leftovers go dry. Two stations--KOSY in Salt Lake City, Utah, and KNEV in Reno, Nev.--even started spinning White Christmas as Halloween ended. "The decorations are around for a long time," notes Jim Ryan, program director at New York City's top-rated station, WLTW...
...foremost reason for the switch is that Jingle Bells rings the register. Most stations that change to an all-Christmas format see a spike in ratings. Advertisers flock to these frequencies, betting that holiday songs remind listeners that the season is all about giving--that is, shopping. Nor are all-Christmas formats a gimmick used only by struggling stations; even top stations like New York's WPLJ, whose Top 40 playlist draws a hip audience, have turned to Bing Crosby full time this season...
Despite the surge in all-Christmas stations, most insiders see no saturation. "It's hard to get sick of songs you only hear for six weeks," says Bill Conway, manager of KOIT, one of the Bay Area's top stations, whose ratings have climbed during its holiday switch. The Ronettes' Sleigh Ride, sure. But has he heard Last Christmasby Wham!? --By Sean Gregory