No really, I’m here… time to muse…

Here I am! After a perfect wedding here at the PBRTV World HQ earlier in the month, I’d like to say I took a little time off, alas I had about two weeks to prepare a large number of church bulletins to get ready for the remainder of the Advent and Christmas seasons. If you know, you know! The Day after Christmas was finally a time for the Mrs. and me to have a true lazy day. We really did not do anything!

But today is a different story. The REAL Christmas Season is still in its infant-toddler stages, but radio and retail have pretty much ended the celebration. iHeart’s WWSW (94.5) and Renda’s WSHH (99.7) may still have a holiday tune or two in the mix, but few and far between. Soon the holiday numbers will be released and we’ll see who the “best man” is out of the two stations who, ironically, have their transmitters on the same tower! Perhaps we should rename what used to be “Television Hill” (the former site of the WPXI-TV 11 studios) “Christmas Hill”?

I’m probably repeating myself here, so bear with me. When I was a kid I loved Christmas music on the radio. It would trickle in every so often beginning either on Thanksgiving Day or the day after. The intensity of the tunes would build as we got closer to Christmas when at some point on December 24 the station would become a Christmas soundtrack for family gatherings until midnight Christmas Day. Even after that, however, at least through December 31 if not January 1, there would be lots of holiday music left to play gradually increasing the space in between albeit in less time than the build up leading to Christmas.

Now, of course, we are inundated with the holiday tunes… the SAME holiday tunes… some of which are atrocious… over and over again. If I sound like an old man so be it. But even some of the old chestnuts are overplayed anymore.

However, let’s flip the coin…

I still don’t know how, but the stations who go all-Christmas in this era of electronic ratings measurements seem to grab a significant boost in ratings which, of course, means a boost in income as well. I have also read where, although stations will definitely lose some of their audience during the 5-6 week marathon, it is also an opportunity to nab some new listeners and introduce them to what they can hear there the rest of the year. This may seem like a cheap shot to the loyal listeners, but truthfully, when was programming really about the listener first and foremost? (Notable exception: During the 2020 and 2021 fall seasons, in the early days of the pandemic, when WWIZ – 103.9 West Middlesex- switched to all-Christmas in September that WAS with the listener in mind! The genius of Bill Kelly, market manager for Cumulus.)

Don’t blink, the 2024 Christmas music season will be here before we know it!

What to watch in 2024

• I have received some word from some informants around the area that 2024 could be a year where we see a few transactions in the market… at least among the regional radio stations. I have no formal word of any pending sales or even the possibilities thereof just yet, so please don’t ask and please don’t speculate on our forums! PBRTV’s eyes and ears are open and will be ready to report if and when any such transaction takes place. (Most of these transactions take place under sometimes really tight and sometimes mildly-loose wraps to prevent any such speculation anyway.)

• Did I really see a headline that Warner Brothers-Discovery proposed a merger with Paramount? Does that not seem stupid? Investers seem to think so, but others say it could create a powerhouse in information and entertainment. “CNN” + “CBS News”… “Paramount+” and “Max”… Yeah, sorry I can’t get behind that even though it would be nice to have fewer options of what streaming service or services to subscribe. I’d be surprised but not surprised to see this happen. And don’t even get started on what would happen with the local stations Paramount owns. (In our case KDKA (2); WPKD (19, Jeannette). Again, not speculation, not am I inviting such. Just things to think about as we enter the new year.

Thank you

Over the summer, regular readers Bill Burr, Judi Rogers, and more recently Roger Rafson contributed some historic artifacts to PBRTV “Museum” if you will. I plan to share what I can as time allows in 2024.