WLIT-FM 93.9 will begin playing only Christmas music at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
It is tied for the second-earliest date in the station’s 23 years of hosting the Christmas music format that it made the switch.
Why? Listeners love it.
For the Chicago-based adult contemporary radio station, the weeks leading up to Christmas are, in terms of ratings, the most wonderful time of the year.
Lance Venta, publisher of RadioInsight.com, says the fall ratings period helps stations like WLIT determine when to bring holiday music to the airwaves.
“The reason stations switch in early November is so they can get a ratings boost for the final few weeks of the survey,” he wrote in an email.
The charts below show how rankings jump following the start of Christmas music on WLIT-FM 93.9 for a whole decade — no matter the start date.
Lance Venta, publisher of RadioInsight.com, says stations owned by iHeartMedia — including WLIT — have a catalog of approximately 250 Christmas songs. WLIT won’t comment on how it compiles its playlist, but there are some insights available on what listeners want to hear.
MRC Data, formerly known as Nielsen Music, tracks the number of plays Christmas songs have on radio and on-demand streaming services. It also gathers the start and end dates for Christmas music on hundreds of radio stations in the United States and Canada.
More than half the list can be called holiday classics — songs often recorded decades ago. Ross credits music testing and family traditions for the consistent play of these classic songs. Beyond that, Ross said, it’s difficult for a new release to receive the same number of plays as an older one — even if it’s the same song.
“For whatever reason, I’ve noticed some of the major Christmas stations becoming more reliant, not less, on the ‘sweater’ artists, Andy Williams, Perry Como, etc., over the past few years,” Ross wrote in an email. “But those stations do seem to allow about a half dozen new interpretations through every year — in part because it lets you play ‘White Christmas’ even more if you get a new rendition occasionally.
What Christmas songs were played the most?
What was WLIT’s most frequently played song during its first week of Christmas programming in 2020?
What Christmas song had the most versions of it played on WLIT in 2020?
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” played 46 times during the first week of Christmas songs on the station with 12 different artists contributing their own takes on the tune. The song was originally written for the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis” and performed by Judy Garland.
The original version of the song laments the fictional Smith family’s expected move away from their beloved St. Louis home:
“Someday soon we all will be together/If the fates allow/Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow/So have yourself a merry little Christmas now”
— “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me In St. Louis”
It could just be the most perfect, melancholy Christmas song for a pandemic year — but most contemporary artists have followed the lead of Frank Sinatra, who famously altered the lyrics for his 1957 album, “A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra.”
Here’s Sinatra’s more upbeat version:
“Through the years we all will be together/If the fates allow/Hang a shining star upon the highest bough/And have yourself a merry little Christmas now”
— Frank Sinatra, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (1957)
Did WLIT’s first week of Christmas music in 2020 lean heavy on the classics?
Yes.
Program directors know listeners want to hear versions of holiday carols that they know best, which could explain why so many songs released in the 20th century continue to be popular this time of year — and have even outlived the artists who performed them.
Looking at when the 143 recordings of songs — which includes multiple versions of the same tune — aired during WLIT’s first week of the format in 2020, it’s no surprise that the number of songs released in the 1960s continue to receive significant airtime.
What were the most-played artists?
What were the least-played artists?
But wait — where’s Wham?!?
Alas, the data is flawed. The Tribune noticed some key Christmas songs by specific artists are heard on the station, but aren’t listed on WLIT’s “Recently Played” list.
An email from an unnamed WLIT representative explained the glitch could be a result of the songs’ age. “Our digital software may just not recognize them and so they don’t get listed on the website.”
Here are a few of the missing songs:
- “Last Christmas” by Wham! (1986)
- “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson (1952)
- “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms (1957)
- “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney (1984)
- “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby (1942)
- “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole (1960)
- “Run, Run Rudolph” by Chuck Berry (1959)
- “Christmas Canon” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (1998)
- “Merry Christmas Darling” by the Carpenters (1978)
- “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid (1985)
- “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” by Gayla Peevey (1953)
Sources: Chicago Tribune reporting, archives and analysis of WLIT-FM 93.9 playlist; MRC Data/Nielsen Music; Lance Venta; Sean Ross; Robert Feder; Jon Keegan; NPR; Entertainment Weekly; Apple Music; Amazon
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