Is it too early in the season for Christmas music?

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 26, 2004 by Lynn Arave Deseret Morning News

Is Christmas arriving too early on the radio dial?

KOSY (FM-106.5) was the first station in the nation to start airing all-Christmas music (except for its Sunday religious music), starting Nov. 1. A week or so later KSFI ("FM-100") started doing the same.

As with retail stores, this seems far too early to get the holidays started.

It might be better now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, but before that, I instantly switched the dial when I heard Christmas music playing.

Some may argue that it's a plus to have the "Spirit of Christmas" stretch out longer each year, but it just doesn't seem right until after Thanksgiving.

A national study last winter showed that radio stations airing Christmas music did well in the Arbitron ratings. So, it's a profit situation.

Also, you can argue that I can easily find another station to listen to if I don't care for holiday tunes this early, but KSFI and KOSY also supply background music for local businesses.

And I'm not the only who feels this way, if a Salt Lake radio station's recent poll is indicative of how the public feels.

Afternoon DJ Dan Jessop, KBZN (FM-97.9) said the station conducted an online poll at www.kbzn.com, where listeners were asked what they would like on "The Breeze" for Christmas music this year. "We received nearly 900 responses over a week's period," Jessop said. "Just over 66 percent indicated they did not want full-time Christmas music during the holidays. The vast majority said they would like two- to-four songs per hour starting some time after Thanksgiving, and all Christmas music on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day . . . then they want it to end.

"We e-mailed our database to invite them to take the poll, and they could only participate once. They also preferred a mix of smooth jazz, new age and traditional holiday music but did not want pop artists' Christmas songs. . . . Many people have called to say we are a welcome place to turn, in order to get away from Christmas music this early in the season."

-- WHEN WAS THE FIRST BYU SPORTS BROADCAST? According to longtime radio listener John Bennett, the first Brigham Young University sports broadcast could have aired as early as 1942, not 1946, as reported last week.

He said Arch Madsen was the manager of KOVO in 1942, and he got permission from Franklin Harris, the president of BYU, to broadcast basketball games that season. Madsen did the first broadcast but a sports announcer was used after that. Madsen was the manager of KOVO again when Joe Lee was announcing the games in 1946.

Records are sketchy on Cougar broadcast history and so it's difficult to verify if 1942 or 1946 is the correct year.

-- RADIO HAPPENINGS -- KZHT is staging a "nip/tuck" contest, where the best poem explaining a need for plastic surgery will win a free body reshaping.

-- "Bob and Tom," a syndicated show on KBER, has gotten around some of the FCC's crackdown on sexual references by offering the more racy stuff on their Web site, as well as on the CDs they sell.

E-mail: lynn@desnews.com