Music: Radio

It's entirely too early for radio to jingle all the way to Christmas

We've gotten used to retailers displaying Christmas merchandise before Halloween, but the seasonal assault from radio stations traditionally has taken a little longer to kick in. It used to, anyway, before some station programmers got the bright idea to buck tradition and begin playing Christmas music practically before leaves start falling.

According to industry tipsheet Inside Radio, two stations in Atlantic City switched to playing all-Christmas music on Oct. 17. That's not just a song or two, but 'round the clock. More than a month before Thanksgiving.

It makes my teeth hurt just thinking about how wrong this is. Broadcast Christmas music sets me on edge anyway, and not just because it's annoyingly repetitive, or worse.

I happen to have something against being bombarded with songs that ballyhoo a holiday I'm expected to celebrate whether I want to or not. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy parties and presents as much as anyone — and I even like some holiday music. But I actually have run screaming from malls because the relentless replays of saccharine odes to snow were more than my fragile psyche could handle — as if malls themselves weren't bad enough.

Even Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" becomes the aural equivalent of that "Marathon Man" torture scene after enough overexposure. I feel enough like a pariah every year at this time. It's not fair to inflict the pain before the day-after-Thanksgiving starting gun goes off!

Inside Radio further reported that last year, 279 stations were playing nothing but Christmas tunes by Dec. 21, and that these simulcast Atlantic City stations were just trying to get the jump on competing stations that had switched to all-Christmas music before Thanksgiving last year.

I doubt that playing Christmas music this early persuades advertisers to buy more ads — or that shoppers need additional reminders to go spend money, as if nearly every stimulant available, from billboards and store windows to unthwartable Web pop-ups, weren't already conveying the message about what time of year it is.

I do know that the stations' owner, Gary Fisher, needs a reality check if he truly believes, as he told Inside Radio, "Nobody doesn't like Christmas music." He also told the publication he was surprised that 40 percent of the 500 or so calls the urban adult contemporary-format station received were negative. (I can't believe that the other 60 percent were as positive as he claims, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.)

I have no problem with stations that want to play nothing but Christmas tunes on Christmas. Heck, I'll even give 'em Christmas Eve. But I can't understand why they feel the need to start rotating those tunes in any sooner than, say, Dec. 15, when I'm about ready to get in holiday mode. And I'd be much happier if they tried to be a little more inclusive with holiday programming, for instance, running station IDs that say "Happy holidays from WXYZ." Because "Happy Chrismannukahwanza" just doesn't cut it.

As a public service, I've polled some local stations to find out when they'll be adding Christmas songs to their rotation. The answers made me breathe a slight sigh of relief. Still, I know the onslaught is around the corner. I'm just glad nobody's hooked on Easter tunes. Yet.

• MIX 94. 7 (KAMX-FM) — Music director Carrie Benjamin says, "We'll play two to three a day the week of, and maybe one an hour on Christmas Day. We really don't do very much."

• BOB-FM (103.5) — According to Scott T. Gillmore, vice president and market manager for BOB owner Emmis Austin Radio, "(BOB) will play Christmas music when he's in the mood for it. It might be a lot or it might be a little."

• 101X (KROX-FM) — The station has no plans to play Christmas music, Gilmore says, because it's not that important to the KROX audience.

• KLBJ-FM (93.7) — Holiday tunes will start airing the day after Thanksgiving, and increase in frequency as Christmas nears.

• KGSR-FM (107.1) — Program director Jody Denberg says, "KGSR begins its holiday programming Thanksgiving weekend with a 'Broadcasts A-Z' weekend, playing every song from our 'Broadcasts' CD series alphabetically (Vol. 13 will be released Nov. 25), and then we begin slowly adding holiday music into our musical blend."

• KUT-FM (90.5) — KUT music director Jeff McCord says the station starts adding Christmas cuts in early December.

• KKMJ-FM (MAJIC 95.5) — The easy-listening station will continue its tradition of round-the-clock holiday music starting on Thanksgiving Day.

You can reach radio column writer Lynne Margolis at popscribe@aol.com.