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November 10, 2022 5:58 pm  #1


Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

It looks like CHLG-FM in Vancouver will be the first to jump to all Xmas all the time beginning this weekend. The Stingray station, otherwise known as The Breeze 104.3, is supposed to flip the all-Yule switch on Saturday. CHFI is reported to be making the jump on Monday.

The one thing you can be sure of is that once these Christmas dominoes fall, many others across the country are sure to follow. 

Vancouver radio station gets into the Christmas spirit starting this weekend

 

November 10, 2022 6:17 pm  #2


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Rogers' KiSS 102.3 Winnipeg is going Saturday, too

 

November 10, 2022 6:45 pm  #3


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

RadioActive wrote:

It looks like CHLG-FM in Vancouver will be the first to jump to all Xmas all the time beginning this weekend. The Stingray station, otherwise known as The Breeze 104.3, is supposed to flip the all-Yule switch on Saturday. CHFI is reported to be making the jump on Monday.

The one thing you can be sure of is that once these Christmas dominoes fall, many others across the country are sure to follow. 

Vancouver radio station gets into the Christmas spirit starting this weekend

Their sister station in Halifax is also flipping on Saturday, so I guess they'll be first by virtue of time-zones.

https://965thebreeze.com/step-into-christmas/
 

 

November 10, 2022 7:57 pm  #4


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Does anyone know when CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener CKOT-FM Easy 101.3 in Tillsonburg and CFHK-FM 103.1 Fresh Radio in London is going Christmas? I cannot find any info on their sites. I know 98.1 CHFI is going Christmas on Monday November 14th.

 

November 10, 2022 8:39 pm  #5


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

Does anyone know when CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener CKOT-FM Easy 101.3 in Tillsonburg and CFHK-FM 103.1 Fresh Radio in London is going Christmas? I cannot find any info on their sites. I know 98.1 CHFI is going Christmas on Monday November 14th.

Last year CHYM jumped on Friday November 19th, a week after sister station CHFI.  Magic 106 in Guelph also beat them by a week going all Christmas at 6:45am on Friday Nov 12th, even beating CHFI by 15 minutes. I wonder if Magic will go all Christmas again this year?

I would imagine there would be a few stations making the change this Saturday.  And the weather is going to get much cooler Saturday with a chance of flurries on Sunday!

 

November 11, 2022 8:41 am  #6


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

I was kinda wondering if Today FM would go all Christmas.
It would be interesting hearing them say "Christmas music? We play it all!!" 


 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

November 11, 2022 10:16 am  #7


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Radiowiz wrote:

I was kinda wondering if Today FM would go all Christmas.
It would be interesting hearing them say "Christmas music? We play it all!!" 


 

I don't think 107.7 2Day FM in Stratford would go Christmas because nearby CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener would be the choice for Christmas music. Also they are listed as Hot AC format. They might play some Christmas music but we will have to see.

 

November 12, 2022 2:47 am  #8


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

paterson1 wrote:

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

Does anyone know when CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener CKOT-FM Easy 101.3 in Tillsonburg and CFHK-FM 103.1 Fresh Radio in London is going Christmas? I cannot find any info on their sites. I know 98.1 CHFI is going Christmas on Monday November 14th.

Last year CHYM jumped on Friday November 19th, a week after sister station CHFI.  Magic 106 in Guelph also beat them by a week going all Christmas at 6:45am on Friday Nov 12th, even beating CHFI by 15 minutes. I wonder if Magic will go all Christmas again this year?

Magic 106 made the switch at midnight (beating both CHFI & CHYM again), and is now officially All Christmas music.
 

 

November 12, 2022 3:21 am  #9


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

I was kinda wondering if Today FM would go all Christmas.
It would be interesting hearing them say "Christmas music? We play it all!!" 


 

I don't think 107.7 2Day FM in Stratford would go Christmas because nearby CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener would be the choice for Christmas music. Also they are listed as Hot AC format. They might play some Christmas music but we will have to see.

You make an excellent point but I wonder more about
93.5 Today FM in Toronto. 
It would be interesting to see if they go all Christmas. 
"Christmas music? We play it all!" would be interesting to hear them say.
 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

November 12, 2022 11:08 am  #10


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Interesting that Buffalo's Star 102.5 is being raked over the coals on the Buffalo Radio Discussions forum.  They are being  slammed for their lack of imaging or effort into the Christmas music.  Apparently the music hasn't been updated in years. And concerns about starting the music right after Halloween which they did last year as well.

One poster mentioned that he replaced Star 102.5 on his car pre sets with CHUM-FM.  CHFI also came up in the discussion and some knew that their flip comes on Nov 14th.  Interestingly one poster also said that all stations on the CN tower reach metro Buffalo and area.  But not as clear as years ago since some of the stations now have adjacent low power local translators that interfere with the Toronto station in certain parts of town.

Last edited by paterson1 (November 12, 2022 11:11 am)

 

November 12, 2022 11:21 am  #11


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Radio.Intern wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

Does anyone know when CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener CKOT-FM Easy 101.3 in Tillsonburg and CFHK-FM 103.1 Fresh Radio in London is going Christmas? I cannot find any info on their sites. I know 98.1 CHFI is going Christmas on Monday November 14th.

Last year CHYM jumped on Friday November 19th, a week after sister station CHFI.  Magic 106 in Guelph also beat them by a week going all Christmas at 6:45am on Friday Nov 12th, even beating CHFI by 15 minutes. I wonder if Magic will go all Christmas again this year?

Magic 106 made the switch at midnight (beating both CHFI & CHYM again), and is now officially All Christmas music.
 

103.1 Fresh Radio in London made the switch too.

 

November 12, 2022 11:40 am  #12


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

paterson1 wrote:

Interesting that Buffalo's Star 102.5 is being raked over the coals on the Buffalo Radio Discussions forum.  They are being  slammed for their lack of imaging or effort into the Christmas music.  Apparently the music hasn't been updated in years. And concerns about starting the music right after Halloween which they did last year as well.

One poster mentioned that he replaced Star 102.5 on his car pre sets with CHUM-FM.  CHFI also came up in the discussion and some knew that their flip comes on Nov 14th.  Interestingly one poster also said that all stations on the CN tower reach metro Buffalo and area.  But not as clear as years ago since some of the stations now have adjacent low power local translators that interfere with the Toronto station in certain parts of town.

I have always wondered what the reception is like for the Toronto FM's in Western New York.

 

November 12, 2022 12:20 pm  #13


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Radiowiz wrote:

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

I was kinda wondering if Today FM would go all Christmas.
It would be interesting hearing them say "Christmas music? We play it all!!" 


 

I don't think 107.7 2Day FM in Stratford would go Christmas because nearby CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener would be the choice for Christmas music. Also they are listed as Hot AC format. They might play some Christmas music but we will have to see.

You make an excellent point but I wonder more about
93.5 Today FM in Toronto. 
It would be interesting to see if they go all Christmas. 
"Christmas music? We play it all!" would be interesting to hear them say.
 

TODAY would only go all-Christmas if it were a stunt leading to a format change, which is obviously not happening.

They've just spent a fortune on marketing to build up the new, unknown brand. It needs to be in its regular format.

 

November 12, 2022 12:26 pm  #14


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

paterson1 wrote:

Interesting that Buffalo's Star 102.5 is being raked over the coals on the Buffalo Radio Discussions forum.  They are being  slammed for their lack of imaging or effort into the Christmas music.  Apparently the music hasn't been updated in years. And concerns about starting the music right after Halloween which they did last year as well.

The audience of that board, like this one, generally has very little crossover with people who'd enjoy Christmas radio.

Having said that, Star 102.5's regular programming is also barely maintained. A small handful of bland IDs, not even VTing outside of weekday shifts, and the Gold music never platooned. It's probably the most boring station on GTA FM.

 

November 12, 2022 4:58 pm  #15


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Even now, the CN Tower FMs are generally pretty easily heard on a car radio anywhere in or around Buffalo, and eastward to around Batavia. 

CJRT has one of the cleaner channels - on a decent day, it comes in here in Rochester, though in Buffalo proper it gets a bit of adjacent-channel interference from WBNY 91.3 at Buffalo State University. 

CBL-FM has two 94.1s to contend with: a tiny translator for WDCZ 970 that's at the WDCX-FM 99.5 site south of Buffalo (but the Toronto signal overwhelms the translator just about everywhere), and WZNE here in Rochester. Even on the western edge of Monroe County, 20 miles west of Rochester, CBL often comes in right over "local" WZNE.

Boom doesn't have anything on adjacent channels in Buffalo, so it's a nice clean signal. As you go west, it fights co-channel interference from WYXL 97.3 in Ithaca (at least when the Ithaca station is at full power, which it isn't right now.)

CHFI has nothing on adjacent channels in Buffalo. Once you get east of Batavia, it gets interference from the HD on WPXY 97.9 in Rochester. 

CBLA is a little weaker from First Canadian Place but still gets to Buffalo decently, though there's a new 98.9 translator in Buffalo that causes some problems. WBZA 98.9 from Rochester wipes it out completely as you go east.

CKFM has a first-adjacent translator on 100.1 just east of Buffalo that creates a little interference, but it's still pretty usable in most of the area. There's another 100.1 in Batavia, and 99.9 WIII in Cortland creates co-channel interference around Rochester. 

CHIN-FM is a decently clean channel in Buffalo, as long as you're not right by the 100.5 WECK translator on Grand Island.

CFNY comes in fine in Buffalo, but past Batavia it gets co-channel interference from WJCA in Albion on 102.1. 

CHUM-FM has a first-adjacent Buffalo translator on 104.7 (relaying 107.7 WLKK), but the translator doesn't block out CHUM on most decent car radios. Going east, there's a 104.5 translator on Bristol Mountain south of Rochester that now wipes out CHUM in most of this area.

Q107 is good around Buffalo, though it has translators on Grand Island at 106.9 and in Buffalo at 107.3 that interfere very slightly. Going east, there's a new 107.1 translator in Rochester that wipes out Q here, and we also get interference from CJTN in Trenton. 

If you're north of Buffalo, you can usually hear some of the lower-powered Toronto signals, too. From Niagara Falls, it's pretty common to hear Indie 88, CIUT, CJBC-FM, Kiss, the Oshawa FMs and 96.3. 

 

November 12, 2022 7:03 pm  #16


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

RadioAaron wrote:

TODAY would only go all-Christmas if it were a stunt leading to a format change, which is obviously not happening.
They've just spent a fortune on marketing to build up the new, unknown brand. It needs to be in its regular format.

Ah, so in that case, they'll probably go all Christmas for a few days, maybe. That still makes sense.
They can promo some happy holidays messages & listeners will still know what to expect on Boxing day. 
 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

November 14, 2022 7:51 am  #17


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

We knew it was coming, we just didn't know exactly when. And now we do. CHFI officially goes all Xmas at 8:30 AM Monday. The announcement and time were confirmed on the station's website. What it doesn't say, of course, is when it ends. (For some, that can't be soon enough!)


 

     Thread Starter
 

November 14, 2022 3:59 pm  #18


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

96.7 CHYM is still in regular format, although they have upcoming Christmas events and Christmas graphics on their website.  They likely will flip this Friday or Saturday.  Kitchener's Santa Clause Parade is on the 19th and this has been when the station makes the big change.  Still seems kind of early to me.  Magic in Guelph is already playing the odd carol in addition to all of the regular novelty Christmas music. 

 

November 15, 2022 2:04 pm  #19


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

paterson1 wrote:

96.7 CHYM is still in regular format, although they have upcoming Christmas events and Christmas graphics on their website.  They likely will flip this Friday or Saturday.  Kitchener's Santa Clause Parade is on the 19th and this has been when the station makes the big change.  Still seems kind of early to me.  Magic in Guelph is already playing the odd carol in addition to all of the regular novelty Christmas music. 

CKOT-FM Easy 101.3 is now playing Christmas music.

 

November 15, 2022 10:23 pm  #20


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

paterson1 wrote:

96.7 CHYM is still in regular format, although they have upcoming Christmas events and Christmas graphics on their website.  They likely will flip this Friday or Saturday.

New graphic on CHYM's site & social posts from this morning shows Friday at 9AM.
 

 

December 26, 2022 1:46 pm  #21


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Radio.Intern wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

Does anyone know when CHYM 96.7 in Kitchener CKOT-FM Easy 101.3 in Tillsonburg and CFHK-FM 103.1 Fresh Radio in London is going Christmas? I cannot find any info on their sites. I know 98.1 CHFI is going Christmas on Monday November 14th.

Last year CHYM jumped on Friday November 19th, a week after sister station CHFI.  Magic 106 in Guelph also beat them by a week going all Christmas at 6:45am on Friday Nov 12th, even beating CHFI by 15 minutes. I wonder if Magic will go all Christmas again this year?

Magic 106 made the switch at midnight (beating both CHFI & CHYM again), and is now officially All Christmas music.
 

And just as quick, Magic 106 in Guelph went back to their regular format at midnight December 26th.  They still have the Merry Christmas theme on the website but the music is back to normal.   CHYM and CHFI will stay with the Christmas music for a little longer. 

 

December 26, 2022 5:32 pm  #22


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

paterson1 wrote:

And just as quick, Magic 106 in Guelph went back to their regular format at midnight December 26th.  They still have the Merry Christmas theme on the website but the music is back to normal.   CHYM and CHFI will stay with the Christmas music for a little longer. 

It does seem rather funny the way some of these stations go back to regular music right at the stroke of midnight on the 26th, the same stations that were in a rush to be the first to play Christmas music in the middle of November. I would think more people would be in the Christmas spirit on Boxing Day than say, November 12th. But I guess these stations have researched this and that seems to be what works.


PJ


ClassicHitsOnline.com...If you enjoy hearing the same 200 songs over and over again...listen to the other guys!
 

December 26, 2022 5:47 pm  #23


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

Personally, I would prefer the have Christmas music for a few days after Christmas than to have it weeks before Christmas.

All Christmas on Christmas day and Boxing Day. Then some Christmes music in the mix until Ney Years day.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

December 26, 2022 6:47 pm  #24


Re: Is This The First Canadian Radio Station To Go All Christmas?

CKTB St. Catharines appears to have stuck with All Christmas on Boxing Day. What happens on Tuesday remains to be seen - or heard.  

     Thread Starter