Ho! Ho! Ho! 5 Ways To Program Christmas
With 5 stations running all-Christmas in D/FW (6 on weekends), let's look at how many ways you can program for the holiday.
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Related: Dallas/Fort Worth
I took last week off from writing as I traveled to Peru for a week to finally check Machu Picchu off the travel bucket list. It is definitely a one of the wonders of the world to visit if you have it on your own bucket list.
Back in the day when I started up and ran the old 100000watts.com radio and TV directory, I used to track every flip to all-Christmas this time of year. As it was about the only place way back then that tracked Christmas as a format this time of year, it used to be one of the most popular searches on the site.
Upon my return to Dallas this weekend, the market now is up to 5 stations running Christmas music full time (6 on the weekends). Although I am not in the Christmas format tracking business anymore, it is probably a safe bet that 5 stations is putting D/FW in a top tier for sheer number of Christmas stations. Surprisingly, there are that many ways to program a Christmas format. So, let’s scan the D/FW dial…
KDGE 102.1 “Star 102.1”: The Secular Station
Related: KDGE, 102.1 Dallas/Fort Worth
In December 2016, iHeart ended the 27 year run of modern rock KDGE “the Edge” – the sign-off featured a few weeks ago in RTWBT #43 – and flipped it to AC “Star 102.1.” Star initially ran Christmas music for the debut, and it has flipped to Christmas each year since. Ratings-wise, Santa delivers Star robust Nielsen ratings, and it has been the ratings champ each year since its 2016 start.
Like its sister stations around the country, KDGE runs a pretty secular Christmas playlist.
Sunday, 15 December 2024 5PM-6:40PM
Lady A/”A Holly Jolly Christmas”
Burl Ives/”Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Mariah Carey/”Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
Madonna/”Santa Baby”
Jackson 5/”Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”
Vince Guaraldi Trio/”O Tannenbaum”
Michael Bublé/”The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
David Foster/”Carol Of The Bells”
Andy Williams/”Winter Wonderland”
Amy Grant/”Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
Gene Autry/”Here Comes Santa Claus”
The Ronettes/”I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
Brett Eldredge (featuring Meghan Trainor)/”Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Johnny Mathis/”It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”
Nat King Cole/”Frosty The Snowman”
Martina McBride/”Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Dean Martin/”Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Jessica Simpson & Rosie O’Donnell/”Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”
Jose Feliciano/”Feliz Navidad”
KAWA 89.7 “Uplifting Way FM, 89-7 Way FM”: The Secular, Yet Religious Station
The national Way FM contemporary Christian format entered D/FW nine years ago when Way FM acquired the former Christian rock KVRK and converted it to Way FM affiliate KAWA. For a contemporary Christian outlet, the Christmas playlist is surprisingly secular. The main differentiator from KDGE is the use of some contemporary Christian music acts in the mix.
Sunday, 15 December 2024 7:09PM-8:15PM
Nat King Cole/”The First Noel”
Burl Ives/”A Holly Jolly Christmas”
Aaron Neville/”Please Come Home For Christmas”
Colton Dixon/”Jingle Bells”
The Ronettes/”Sleigh Ride”
Michael W. Smith/”It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”
Whitney Houston/"Do You Hear What I Hear?"
Paul McCartney/”Wonderful Christmastime”
Boston Pops/”Hallelujah”
Johnny Mathis/“Winter Wonderland”
Bing Crosby/”Happy Holiday”
King & Country/“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
Dean Martin/“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
Brenda Lee/”Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”
Jerry Camp/”O Come All Ye Faithful”
Gene Autry/”Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Jeremy Rosado & Riley Clemmons/”Silver Bells”
Nat King Cole/“O Holy Night”
Amy Grant/”Grown Up Christmas List”
KLTY 94.9 “94.9 KLTY, Your Life…Inspired”: The Reason For The Season Station
Related: 94.9 Dallas/Fort Worth
KLTY is on its fourth incarnation. It originally was on 94.9 for about a year in the mid-1980s; a sale ended the format and it flipped to CHR KHYI “Y95.” The format and calls would later be picked on 94.1 in 1989. After a decade run, the second incarnation also ended due to a sale that ended up flipping the station to regional Mexican KLNO in 2000. The KLTY calls and contemporary Christian format quickly found a home on Salem’s 100.7 rimshot signal. After less than a year, the KLTY calls moved back to the full-market 94.9 signal when Salem swapped dial positions for KLTY and religious talk/preaching KWRD-FM “the Word.”
KLTY has been flipping to Christmas music each December now for more than 20 years. It uses a mix of Christian and secular music acts. Unlike KAWA above, KLTY features a much higher amount of Christian / spiritual songs that one would expect from a CCM outlet.
Sunday, 15 December 2024 6:49PM-8:15PM
Christmas Tomlin/”Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy)”
U2/”Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)”
TobyMac (featuring Tasha Layton)/”Christmas Hits Different”
Michael Bublé/”It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”
Donny Hathaway/”This Christmas”
Michael W. Smith/”Gloria”
Nat King Cole/”God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
Crowder/”Thanks Giver”
Lakewood Music/”Angels Medley (Hope Has Come)”
Amy Grant/”Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”
Cain/”Celebrate Me Home”
The Ronettes/”Sleigh Ride”
Forrest Frank/”The Present”
The Carpenters/”Home For The Holidays”
The Drifters/”White Christmas”
Brandon Heath/”Just A Girl”
Danny Gokey/”Joy To The World”
Third Day/”Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Bing Christmas/”It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”
MercyMe/”God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
Percy Faith Orchestra/”We Need A Little Christmas”
Tasha Layton/”Wake Up, It’s Christmas”
KEOM 88.5: Drunk On Eggnog
Owned and operated by the Mesquite Independent School District, KEOM operates as a non-commercial educational facility to give students hands-on radio experience. It normally runs a quirky classic hits format with a pretty broad playlist — its basically students playing a mash-up of music their parents might have listened to in their younger days, if their parents listened to three or four radio stations in different formats. For a couple of weeks each December, it runs Christmas music.
There is no national playlist running on KEOM. It’s Christmas library runs the gambit from the Muppets to Justin Bieber to Britney Spears to Bing Crosby and about anything and everything in between.
Sunday, 15 December 2024 6:51PM
The Ronettes/”Sleigh Ride”
Sia/”Snowman”
Harry Connick Jr/”Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Sugar Ray/”Little Saint Nick”
Shedaisy/”Christmas Children”
Johnny Mathis/”Frosty The Snowman”
Leroy Sanchez/”The Greatest Gift”
Pentatonix/”12 Days Of Christmas”
Justin Bieber/”Mistletoe”
The Blenders/”’Twas The Night”
The Muppets With John Denver/”Deck The Halls”
Kenny G/”Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Bing Crosby/”White Christmas”
Michael Bublé/”Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”
The Lettermen/”Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
Sting/”I Saw Three Ships”
Lauren Spencer Smith/”Single On The 25th”
Jim Brickman/”O Christmas Tree”
Amy Grant/”Mister Santa”
Elle Darlington/”Christmas Is You”
Al Jarreau/”The Christmas Song”
The Ray Conniff Singers/”Silver Bells”
Barbara Mandrell/”It Must Have Been The Mistletoe”
Celine Dion/”Happy Christmas (War Is Over)”
The Beach Boys/”The Man With All The Toys”
Ally Brooke/”Under The Tree”
Kimberly Locke/”Frosty The Snowman”
Jon Secada/”Feliz Navidad”
Eartha Kitt/”Santa Baby”
Mannehim Steamroller/”Deck The Halls”
WRR 101.1: Bach Off, Mariah
Owned by the city of Dallas, WRR’s roots trace back to being the first radio station in Texas when the city signed on the AM station that is now sports KTCK 1310 “Sports Radio 96-7 & 1310 the Ticket” in 1921 for police dispatches. The FM came along in the late 1940s.
In 2022, the city entered into a management agreement with North Texas Public Broadcasting, owner of PBS KERA-TV 13, NPR KERA-FM 90.1, and AAA KKXT 91.7 “KXT.” NTPB took over actual management of WRR in 2023 and began operating it as a listener-supported non-commercial outlet (though the 101.1 allocation is still allocated for commercial use). The classical format was preserved, but the cume-destroying audio of Dallas City Council meetings was mercifully ended. Last year, WRR ran classical Christmas music for the month of December. This year, it is again running Christmas-themed classical music. For those wishing for an escape from the omnipresent “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “Last Christmas,” WRR provides a unique oasis.
The music spans from 15th century English Christmas music to works from Bach and Brahms to traditional carols. WRR would be the “most Dallas” of the Christmas stations since they regularly intersperse local compositions (Dallas Symphony Orchestra, TCU Symphony, etc.).
Friday, 13 December 10AM-11:20AM
Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra/”O Holy Night”
City of London Choir/”In Terra Pax (Christmas Scene), Op. 39”
TCU Wind Symphony/”Russian Christmas Music”
Artur Rubinstein/”Chopin: Waltz #2 in A-Flat “Grande Valse Brillante Op. 18”
Royal Philharmonic/”Patapan”
St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir/”Silent Night”
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields/”Brahms: Hungarian Dance #5 in G Minor”
Philadelphia Brass Ensemble/”Joy To The World”
English Baroque Soloists/”Bach: Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63”
Robert DeCormier Chorale/”This Endris Night”
Bonus: K-Love
Educational Media Foundation’s national K-Love contemporary Christian format was blocked from entering D/FW due to Audacy owning the D/FW rights to the “K-Love” brand for its classic hits KLUV 98.7. Strapped for cash, Audacy sold the KLUV calls and “K-Love” brand rights to EMF last year, and the former KLUV was relaunched as KSPF “98.7 the Spot.” EMF has since parked the KLUV calls for future use. Presumably waiting on a full market signal to become available, EMF did finally bring the K-Love format to D/FW via the HD2 subchannel of its D/FW rimshot KYDA 101.7 (KYDA runs EMF’s Air 1 on the main channel).
Unlike Way FM, K-Love is only running all-Christmas on the weekends, making 6 Christmas outlets to chose from on Saturdays and Sundays. The weekend K-Love programming is more in-line with KLTY in using a mix of both secular and religious-themed songs by a mix of secular and contemporary Christian artists.
Sunday, 15 December 2024 7:25PM-8:25PM
Matt Maher/”Jingle Bells”
Elevation Rhythm/”Joy!”
Michael W. Smith/”Happy Holiday/Holiday Season (Medley)”
Nat King Cole/”The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You”)
Sidewalk Prophets/”What A Glorious Night”
The Carpenters/”Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
MercyMe/”God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
Blessing Offor/”Wonderful Christmastime”
Amy Grant/”Sleigh Ride”
Chris Tomlin/”Angels We Have Heard On High”
Bing Crosby/”White Christmas”
We Are Messengers/”Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
Unspoken/”Feliz Navidad”
Naomi Raine/”Joy To The World”
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations.
The absence of KQLZ Pirate Radio's (Scott Shannon's masterpiece blip in his vast legendary career) 6-Hour Christmas Spectacular lasting from 6:00 AM to 12:00 AM on December 22nd, 1989 is a huge hole in this lineup.
Bolstering 6 hours of legendary California 80's hard rock, psycho songs, looney tunes, and Smurfs bits with very few commercial interruptions throughout. The year end blast off closed with a giveaway of $10,000 dollars and a limo ride to the station to the 100th caller during Welcome To The Jungle. These can be heard on kqlz.com's airchecks page.