On Radio: Holiday music returns to the airwaves
By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER
If Christmas music isn't your thing, the radio might not be your place for the next month.
Two stations in particular won't be to your liking, as they're continuing their tradition of playing nothing but Christmas songs from now through the holiday.
Soft-rock station KRWM- FM/106.9 switched to all-Christmas last Friday, while contemporary-Christian format KCMS- FM/105.3 makes the switch the day after Thanksgiving (it plays both secular and religious holiday music).
KCMS program director Scott Valentine doesn't believe listeners will be burned out on Christmas tunes for the more than four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. "Last year we eased into it," Valentine says, only to find the station lost some listeners "because we didn't go all Christmas."
Christmas music figures prominently on other stations. "We have such a great variety of country Christmas and standards," says Becky Brenner, program director at KMPS-FM/94.1. The station will emphasize Christmas tunes -- four or five an hour -- on the weekends, backing off a bit during the week, and adding more religious-themed songs closer to the holiday.
Favorite Christmas tunes include Kathy Mattea's "Mary Did You Know," George Strait's "Christmas Cookies," 3 of Hearts' "Christmas Shoes" and "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Vince Vance and the Valiants.
As for that other "standard" -- "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" -- "we hate to play it, but we do it, anyway -- very sporadically," Brenner says.
"We play a few of the great rock Christmas songs," says KISW-FM/99.9 program director Dave Richards. "There are not a ton of them, but there are some."
KING-FM/98.1 will be adding classical Christmas pieces to its main broadcast, but it's also launching all-Christmas programming on its HD-2 channel, beginning the day after Thanksgiving.
Program director Bryan Lowe says KING-FM has long discussed the multichannel capabilities of the HD technology to provide specialized programming within the classical format. "This is the first step in that direction," he says.
Lowe says KING-FM plans to launch another classical-music HD channel in January.
In other radio notes:
Thanksgiving also marks the launch of special holiday season programming, beginning this weekend with the annual reunion show of Sandi Bradley's "Potluck." It will be broadcast from the Museum of History and Industry at 11 a.m. Saturday on KBCS-FM/91.3.
Another shake-up at a local conservative-talk station, this time at KTTH-AM/770. Glenn Beck's nationally syndicated program moves to the 6-9 a.m. weekday slot, replacing the locally produced Sytman & Boze show. David Boze will solo-host a show 3-6 p.m. weekdays, while Dan Sytman has been let go from the station. Beck, who is from Western Washington originally, will now be heard live in this market, KTTH said.
Don Riggs' guests on "Introspect Northwest" at 6 a.m. Sunday on KMPS-FM/94.1 and 9 a.m. Sunday on KPTK-AM/1090 include Chris Cluff, author of a book on the Seahawks, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."
Lizz Sommars' guests on "Conversations" at 6 a.m. Sunday on KISW-FM/99.9, KKWF-FM/100.7 and KMTT-FM/103.7, and 7 a.m. Sunday on KNDD-FM/107.7, include Sally Bedell Smith, author of a book on the Clintons, "For Love of Politics."
Lee Callahan interviews Silja Talvi, local author of "Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System," on "Community Matters Weekend Edition" at 8 a.m. Sunday on KPTK-AM/1090.
The Sunday edition of Jim French's "Imagination Theatre," heard at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on KIXI-AM/880, includes a new Sherlock Holmes mystery.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels takes listener calls at 10 a.m. Monday on "Weekday" on KUOW-FM/94.9.
P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com.
Bill Virgin's Radio Beat every Thursday in the Seattle P-I