ckoplien@todaystmj4.com

twitter.com/craigkoplien

You may have heard there are a couple radio stations in town that are now playing non-stop Christmas music.

What baffles me (and it baffled me last year, and the year before, etc.) is how much that bothers some people.

If you read some of the professionals who write about the radio business for a living...or even regular-people-blogs or comment sites...you'd think these radio stations cancelled Christmas altogether.


A sampling of comments...

"It's ridiculous to be playing Christmas music...it's not even Thanksgiving yet".

"Who is running these radio stations? Obviously idiots".

"What's next, 4th of July fireworks in May?"

I have 2 takes on this:

First, the people running these radio stations aren't idiots.  They are business people who are not in business to lose money.  They make the switch-over to Christmas music when they do because they believe it will make them money.


Station management has done its homework and determined that the station can make money by playing all Christmas music right now. 

How?

By selling commercial-time to advertisers.  If there weren't advertisers willing to buy commercial time, the switch from Hall & Oates and Huey Lewis & The News to Bing Crosby and Burl Ives wouldn't happen.

The advertisers have similarly done their homework and determined that enough people will listen to "White Christmas" to justify them dropping some $$ to run their commercials in between the jingle bells.

You may or may not agree that enough people will listen to justify the $$ outlay of the advertisers...but that's just slightly beside the point as far as the radio station management is concerned.  As long as the advertisers cut them the checks, it's all good...and "Holly Jolly Christmas" will keep blasting from your woofers.

My second take is applicable to anything you don't like on the radio (or TV for that matter):  If you don't want to hear "Santa Baby" right now...you could...I don't know...

...um...

...change the station.

Why all the hand-wringing?  Why all the complaining?  Why all the back-seat-radio-station-managing?

How about pushing the "scan" or"seek" or "tune" buttons?

There are, like, a lot of other radio stations.  Surely you can find one that you like.

In fact, allow me to invite you to listen to the 2 radio stations that I work for...

94.5 Lake FM:  They play the widest variety of music ever on a Milwaukee radio station...music from the past 5 decades...from the 60s all the way to today...all mixed together.  (Plus, I hear the morning weather guy is very good.)


Newsradio 620 WTMJ:  All of the news, weather, sports and traffic you need.  (Same morning weather guy as 94.5 Lake FM, too.)


There you go...my gifts to you.

Gotta run now...Mannheim Steamroller is on.