Christmas Time...
This is the last edition of RAudio before Christmas. I’ll be taking a look at what lies ahead for 2024, before we hit New Year, but I wanted to thank those who’ve subscribed, liked and commented this year, it’s been a real pleasure to get to write and share my thoughts each week.
Christmas in Audio
I’ve been thinking about Christmas and how it works for radio and podcasting, because It’s a peculiar time of year really, for audio and audio makers.
We’re all racing to get everything done, so that we can get those precious few days off from the office and from the headphones, but it’s maybe worth thinking a bit about how the audience uses audio over this period.
Christmas really has a lot of audio elements to it, from sleigh bells in ads, to the distinctive sound of your local radio presenter who feels he has Santa somewhere in his DNA, to the all pervading Christmas music… It’s a feast for the ears.
I can’t think of any other holiday or event that has so many distinctive audio elements associated with it, but I think we probably focus too much on the Christmas music and maybe miss out on some of the other audio elements that make Christmas work. It’s definitely the time of year for a bit of audio magic, whether it’s kids talking about what their Elves have been up to, or capturing the atmosphere of streets and towns across the country.
Christmas Music
I’ve always had an odd relationship with Christmas music. I just don’t really care all that much about it, but it certainly has a strange power over people in the run in to December 25th.
There’s been a quiet arms race between radio stations for years over when exactly was the suitable date to start playing Christmas music. Originally, in Ireland at least, the 8th of December was seen as a sort of “official start of Christmas”, that’s when people travelled up to Dublin to do their shopping and when radio stations dragged out the box of Christmas hits.
But much like global warming and sea levels, Christmas has been sneaking further up the calendar. I’ve produced Breakfast shows that played a Christmas song on the 25th of June, which if you were wondering, “when is too early”, that definitely qualifies.
In fact, in a focus group, I once heard a lapsed listener to the station I then worked for explain that the time we played a Christmas song in June was the final straw for him and it prompted him to switch station. Awkward moments in the observation room.
Christmas in Autumn
Anyway, Christmas music has gradually worked its way back into November, this year my station played the first official Christmas song on November 24th, but it turns out that was a week later than some other stations in the market. And there have been Christmas streams running for some time.
I blame the panto ads that started popping up in September for softening people up for early festivities, although I could write a whole newsletter on my hatred for Panto Ads. Christ. There’s one on air at the moment that makes me physically angry.
We also have Christmas FM in Ireland, which is an interesting concept, a full on 30 day FM station, dedicated to playing Christmas music on a temporary licence, which raises funds for charitable partners. They’ve raised millions over the last 15 years or so, which is admirable.
Christmas Schedules
Have a think too about the Christmas schedule, are there suitable points of interest for all of the audience? How are you dealing with key moments like Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve? What are you doing on Christmas morning, when people are unwrapping presents, or spending hours in the kitchen cooking? Radio has an important part to play in households across the Christmas period, and it’s worth making sure that there’s enough entertainment on the air.
I think it’s a good time to try new talent, with less pressure and commercial content, you can get a chance to hear how entertaining and engaging presenters can be. It can be hard to find a space to get new voices on the air, this may well be an opportunity that you shouldn’t miss.
Podcasting at Christmas
From a podcast point of view, at The Smart 7, we’ve always published every day across the Christmas period. It just seems like a time when you should have new content coming out, as people have more time, or new phones and explore new content.
Each year, we compile year end reviews and package content from The Smart 7 so that there’s something published every day, it’s part of the 7 days a week at 7am promise, I guess.
This year, as with most years, I’m way behind on the compilations, but when we started to look at the Obituaries it was shocking to see how many big names passed away this year, particularly in music, maybe it’s a sign that I’m getting older!
Whatever you’re doing over Christmas, I hope you get a chance to take a break and enjoy some time away from your headphones. Happy Christmas.
This has been the 26th official edition of the RAudio Newsletter
Just to recap, each week I’ll be taking a look at big stories in radio, podcasting and audio.
Any feedback, questions or potential topics are welcome – you can get me on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamthompsonconsulting/ or on Twitter @Maxliam