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800.275.2840 MORE NEWS» insideradio.com THE MOST TRUSTED NEWS IN RADIO TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2014 Number of Christmas stations sets new all-time high. Exclusive. Drawn by the opportunity for a seasonal ratings and revenue lift, a record number of radio stations went all-Christmas this year, shattering the previous high set in 2012. There are 529 U.S. stations airing all-holiday tunes, an increase of 8.4% from a year ago when 488 stations adopted the format. Coming off a year when the number of all-Christmas stations dipped slightly, 2014’s final tally suggests radio’s appetite for all-Yule programming has yet to peak. The total doesn’t include the growing number of stations programming a partial Christmas format or online-only and HD side channels. During the past decade, the number of all-Christmas stations has more than doubled, according to the Inside Radio database. “It shows that much of the industry realizes how successful a concept this is,” consultant Dan Vallie says. “It’s the most consistently successful and most ratings-impactful programming strategy a radio station can do — no other ‘feature’ can run this long and be this successful.” Stations that have earned the position as their market’s go-to holiday music station are often able to charge advertisers a premium during December, when their ratings skyrocket. “We have a bunch of stations that are doing Christmas music and they are definitely having a strong December,” CBS Radio president of sales Michael Weiss says. “We’re able to go back and show advertisers that we had a pop last year or the year before, when we turned on our Christmas music.” The format’s appeal transcends every demo and gender, iHeartMedia SVP of programming Jon Zellner says. “That gives a station a profile any advertiser would want: Mom, Dad, and the kids listening together during the biggest consumer season of the year,” Zellner says. Room for more than one station under the mistletoe. For red-hot formats like CHR and country, there’s room for more than one station per market. The seasonal Christmas format is no exception. From blow-torch FMs to rimshotters and AMs, the format is found up and down the dial in many cities. Chicago is Christmastown USA this year, boasting six separate stations airing an all-holiday format. Last year the honor went to Detroit. Six markets have four all-Yule stations: Birmingham, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles, Rochester, NY and Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA. Nearly 20 cities have three and dozens of markets have two. A small number of cities don’t have any, including such major cities as Atlanta and Miami. The vast majority of all-holiday stations are on FM — just 43 AM stations made the switch this year. With the number of holiday stations in 2014 reaching a new high, the question arises as to how much growth is left in the format. “I think there is room for growth, both in the number of stations and in ratings performance for the stations that do it,” consultant Dan Vallie says. “Even more so, as more stations do a better and better job generating revenue from the all Christmas programming.” Entercom AC KOIT, San Francisco (96.5) PD Brian Figula agrees the format has yet to peak. “The Christmas format will continue to grow and terrestrial radio does it better than anybody else,” he says. “Radio has invested a lot of marketing and research into this and every year we see a lot of growth. There’s a big demand for it.” Who are the merriest station owners? A total of 76 Christmas stations are owned by iHeartMedia, giving it the most all-Yule stations again this year. Other owners heavy on the holiday format include Cumulus Media (25 stations), Townsquare Media (19), Salem (12), Entercom (11), CBS Radio (10), and Saga (9). Noncommercial operator Family Life Radio had 21 all-Christmas stations, Radio Training Network had 19 holiday stations on the air, while WAY Media had 15. Read the full 2014 Christmas format list HERE. [email protected] | 800.275.2840 PG 1 NEWS insideradio.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2014 Classic hip-hop turns in its best debut yet in Philadelphia. In its best ratings performance yet, the fledgling classic hip-hop format finished top five among persons 18-34 and 25-54 in its first full month on the air in Philadelphia. After initial success in Houston, Radio One quickly duplicated the red-hot format in Philly on “Boom 107.9” WPHI, which dropped urban on November 8, two days into Nielsen’s December survey. The station has since doubled its 6+ share (1.9-3.8), while lurching into the top five in 18-34 (4.0-6.5) and 25-54 (2.3-5.5). The ratings are especially remarkable given WPHI’s class A signal. The station apparently most negatively affected is sister R&B oldies “Old School 100.3” WRNB, which tumbled 4.0-3.3. In Dallas, “Boom 94.5” KSOC grew 2.8- 3.4 in 6+ to finish tenth without the benefit of a full survey just yet in the throwback format. The station, which launched November 14, tripled its 18-34 shares (1.0-3.4) to rank 13th and moved 3.1-4.0 in 25-54 to rank eighth. The gains appear to have taken a sliver away from Service Broadcasting urban “K-104” KKDA (4.0-3.6) and Radio One rhythmic CHR “97.9 The Beat” KBFB (3.6-3.3) Cumulus Media’s KLIF-FM, which had a two-week fling with classic hip-hop after rebranding in October as rhythmic CHR “Hot 93.3,” had the largest 6+ percentage increase in Dallas, vaulting 1.8.-2.6. Back in Houston, “Boom 92” KROI came close to matching its explosive 3.2 debut in November with a 2.9 in December. But it slipped from tenth to 12th in persons 25-54 (4.0-3.7) and fell from sixth to ninth (5.1- 4.3) in adults 18-34. Here comes the Christmas format ratings stampede. Even with its biggest ratings survey still to come, the all-Christmas format is already No. 1 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia. In Nielsen’s December survey, which covers November 6-December 3, iHeartMedia’s “93.9 My FM” WLIT-FM, Chicago more than doubled its 6+ share, charging from a ninth place 3.7 to a second place 7.3. WLIT typically sees the biggest boost of all-holiday music stations. In L.A., AC sister “Coast 103” KOST knocked CHR cluster mate KIIS-FM (102.7) out of the top spot, charging 5.2-7.0 among listeners aged 6+. In New York, iHeart AC “106.7 Lite FM” WLTW elbowed CBS Radio classic hits WCBS-FM (101.1) from its ratings perch, trending 5.6-7.7. The all-Yule format padded the lead iHeart AC “Sunny 99.1” KODA, Houston already had in November (7.1-9.2). Likewise in Philly, Jerry Lee’s AC “More FM” WBEB (101.1) expanded its lead over second place iHeart urban AC WDAS-FM (105.3) from mere fractions of a point to more than two shares, jumping 6.8-8.5. In San Francisco, Entercom AC KOIT (96.5) vaulted 4.5-5.8, putting it within striking distance of CBS Radio all-news KCBS (740, 106.9). And in Dallas, the holiday format pushed CBS Radio classic hits KLUV (98.7) 4.0-5.0, advancing from a fifth place tie to rank second. Head to StationRatings.com for more results from Nielsen’s December survey. Kantar: Third quarter ad market barely grew — big advertisers to blame. Radio industry revenue slid in the third quarter, and just-released data from Kantar Media helps put that decline into perspective. It reports the total ad market barely grew — up just 0.3% during the three-month period. For the first nine months of the year total advertising spending grew 2.2% but that’s a considerable slowdown from the first half. “After a relatively robust first half when spend grew by 3.1%,the pace of ad spending slowed during Q3 and a principal cause was top 100 marketers becoming more restrained with their budgets,” Kantar chief research officer Jon Swallen says. Thanks to political advertising and World Cup spending, television was the only sector in the analysis with year-over-year growth, increasing 6.5% compared to a year ago. All other sectors saw spending decrease, including internet display ad spending, which fell 1.7%. Radio, outdoor, newspapers and magazines all saw ad billings slide. Kantar says a common factor across all media was reduced spending by retail, financial service and restaurant clients. “In contrast, mid-sized advertisers, who are the core of the ad market, continued to supply foundational support and grew their total spending by 6% to 7% during the quarter,” Swallen says. Insurance ad spending roars higher. Fewer big marketing launches by automakers led to a 4% drop in spending during the third quarter, according to Kantar Media, which reports dealers (-6.3%) cut back their spending more than the manufacturers (-2.4%). That allowed retail to edge out automotive as the biggest advertising category during the quarter, despite a 0.8% decline in overall spending compared to a year earlier. Kantar says a “broad slowdown” during the summer months, especially among department stores and clothing stores, pushed the retail category lower.