Nielsen Expects Classic Radio Christmas

Just like an old-fashion Nor'easter produces substantial snow depths, Christmas music stations can expect the upcoming "Holiday" survey to provide substantial ratings.

Nieklsen reports the December PPM's, which covered BNovember 5 through December 2, 2015, gives a peek into what the impact of holiday music on the radio will look like this season. And it’s no surprise that several of the formats that tend to see ratings surge the most during the holidays are once again rising in the ranks based on the December data.

The appetite for holiday music powered by radio stations that flip to an “All-Christmas” format at the end of the year is showing no signs of slowing down. Last year, 529 stations across the U.S. went “All-Christmas,” setting a record for the most stations ever to do so. So far in 2015, that trend appears to be keeping pace, with nearly 70% of the Nielsen-monitored holiday music stations making the change before the end of the Thanksgiving weekend.

Adult Contemporary (AC), historically the leader of the “All-Christmas” pack, followed up a strong November showing by jumping a full share-point in December, going from 7.6% to 8.6% among listeners age 6 and older. This puts the format just slightly ahead of last December’s pace (8.5% in 2014) and is the best December result since 2012. All of this sets AC up to have another highly successful holiday book, building on last year’s success.

Sister format Hot AC also capitalized on a strong November and kept the momentum going this month, posting its best December ever in PPM measurement across all three of the demographics Nielsen analyzed. Furthermore, Hot AC’s share with both 18-34 and 25-54 year-old listeners this month ties the all-time highs established earlier this year. Suffice to say, it’s been a very good year for HotAC, and it looks like it will end 2015 with a bang.

the real stars behind the ratings success of Christmas on the radio are the songs themselves report Nielsen.. Once again in 2015, the timeless appeal of classic holiday music continues to resonate, regardless of station or market.

Across the country, these were the most played Christmas songs during the December survey.

Most-Played Christmas Songs During December 2015 PPM Survey Period