According to Nielsen, radio stations that go All-Christmas help get people into the holiday spirit, and get a ratings boost to boot, especially among women. And Nielsen can identify the type of station most likely to replace the remote van with a team of reindeer.
First, a look at the citizens:
49.5% like hearing holiday music on the radio – but the gender divide is significant. More than half of those on the female side – 57% — like it. But only 42% of men are in the same sleigh.
When it comes to which station type is most likely to make the flip, as Nielsen puts it, it will be those “…switching from Christopher Cross to Kris Kringle right around Thanksgiving.” We’re talking Adult Contemporary.
45%, or 1.1M holiday of all holiday-related spins came from that format last year.
AC stations played 2,861 songs 1,144,765 times.
Christian AC stations played 1,660 songs 515,253 times.
Country stations played 1,226 songs 213,767 times.
Classic Hits stations played 1,343 songs 179,735 times.
Hot AC stations played 1,036 songs 146,420 times.
Source: Nielsen
The top tunes of 2013 were:
1. Brenda Lee, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
2. Bobby Helms, Jingle Bell Rock
3. Burl Ives, A Holly Jolly Christmas
4. Andy Williams, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
5. Nat King Cole, The Christmas Song
6. Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas is You
7. John Lennon, Happy X-Mas (War is Over)
8. Band Aid, Do They Know It’s Christmas?
9. Jose Feliciano, Feliz Navidad
10. Bing Crosby, White Christmas
Source: Nielsen
