For many years, the two bellwether stations—sleigh, jingle, or otherwise—of the all-Christmas format were Audacy’s WBEB (B101) Philadelphia and iHeart’s WLTW (106.7 Lite FM) New York. In last year’s special holiday PPM, Lite FM had a 12.8 share. B101 had gone 16.6 – 17.0 – 18.6 over three years, the first time any Philadelphia station had seen an 18-share since 1967.
If you’ve ever wondered what it would sound like if B101 and Lite FM squared off against each other, you can get a sense of that this year. iHeart’s WISX (106.1, the Breeze) launched in 2018 at the height of the Soft AC boom at the softer and older end of the format, comparable to sister KISQ San Francisco. Earlier this year, it evolved to a newer, less soft AC along the lines of WLTW. This year, it went all-Christmas as well. We took a Fresh Listen to both stations.
B101 became one of the standard bearers for the all-Christmas format in part because of the holiday lifestyle aspect it was able to create beyond the music. You still get a sense of that this year—most notably the station’s Christmas Choir competition in conjunction with the Philly Pops continues. One of the songs in the hour monitored came from one of the choirs in question.
Both station music mixes are predominantly traditional/MOR era now—something which hardly seems worth commenting on from year to year anymore, except to the extent that the presence of Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, and Johnny Mathis is even more pronounced than the year before. Major-market FM Soft AC traditionally avoids even the Manilow/Streisand/Diamond ‘70s these days, but it does make you wonder if some of those stations should play “Summer Wind” or “The Way You Look Tonight” during the rest of the year, since those songs are on the eternal jukebox, too.
In our listening, neither B101 nor the Breeze had any COVID-related content. That jibes with our holiday format listening thus far. Unlike last year’s “Christmas like no other,” 2021 is going to be a Christmas like most others, at least on the radio.
The Breeze was using a variety of positioners, including “Continuous Holiday Music” and “106.1, the Christmas Breeze.” One thing that sets it apart is artist drops from a variety of relatively recent acts: Katy Perry, Charlie Puth, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Michael Bublé, and Olivia Rodrigo. Afternoon host Bob Hauer teased a bit by asking “how many good deeds do people do in a month”? The answer turned out to be an average of eight. Here’s WISX just before 4 p.m., Nov. 30:
- Ronettes, “Sleigh Ride”
- Bob Seger, “The Little Drummer Boy”
- Johnny Mathis, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
- Nat King Cole, “The Christmas Song”
- Michael Bublé, “Holly Jolly Christmas”
- Kelly Clarkson, “Underneath the Tree”
- Gene Autry, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
- Amy Grant, “Jingle Bell Rock”
- Dean Martin, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
- Glee Cast, “We Need A Little Christmas”
- Bing Crosby, “Do You Hear What I Hear”
- David Foster, “Carol of the Bells”
- Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, “Happy Holiday”
- Andy Williams, “Sleigh Ride”
- Mariah Carey, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
- Perry Como, “Home for the Holidays”
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra, “Christmas Canon”
- Frank Sinatra, “Jingle Bells”
- Taylor Swift, “Santa Baby”
- Darlene Love, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
B101 still uses the pre-recorded “song tags” that it helped popularize more than a decade ago. There was also a sweeper that promised to “cut through the workday fog, like Rudolph.” Beyond the choir competition, there was also a ticket giveaway for the Tinseltown Holiday Spectacular, as well as a shoutout to the “Facebook Fan of the Day.” Here’s B101 during the same stretch with p.m. driver Bobby Smith:
- Mariah Carey, “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
- Mannheim Steamroller, “Carol of the Bells”
- Bobby Helms, “Jingle Bell Rock”
- Amy Grant, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
- Frank Sinatra, “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”
- Ray Conniff, “Jolly Old St. Nicholas/Little Drummer Boy”
- Jackson 5, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
- John Lennon, “Happy Xmas/War Is Over”
- Coventry Christmas Choirs, “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”—one of the station’s Christmas choir contenders
- Dean Martin, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
- Jimmy Durante, “Frosty the Snowman”
- Air Supply, “Sleigh Ride”
- Johnny Mathis, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
- Jordin Sparks, “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
- Andy Williams, “Winter Wonderland”
- Nat King Cole, “The Christmas Song”
- Taylor Swift, “Last Christmas”