HBG Media Minute: Christmas 2022 Music Study
With the holiday season well underway, we at Harker Bos Group wanted to put a Christmas spin on this week’s Media Minute. We asked over 500 radio listeners about their favorite Christmas music. To determine their preferred style of Christmas music, we created montages that evoked a certain style of holiday music, be it from Retro, to 50’s Rock, to Beatles, Country, 90s Hip-Hop and beyond. After each montage we asked the listener to rank the montage with regards to its appeal (how much they like this type of Christmas music), whether they would listen to a station that plays this type of Christmas music, and how tired they are of this particular style of Christmas music.
To get us started, let’s dive right into the results from our nationwide holiday music study. To get a sense of their ideal type of Christmas music we asked the following:
Graph (below): How much do you like this type of Christmas music? Please indicate your response using a 1-5 scale, where a “1” means you dislike it a lot, and a “5” means you like it a lot.
50’s Rock is the clear favorite among listeners we surveyed with regards to their ideal style of Christmas music, with 85% confirming they like it or ‘like it a lot’. The songs we included in the 50’s rock montage were:
1. Brenda Lee – ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ (1947)
2. Chuck Berry – ‘Run Run Rudolph’ (1958)
3. Elvis – ‘Blue Christmas’ (1957)
Retro Christmas came shortly behind 50’s rock in terms of overall appeal, with a montage featuring staples of the Christmas catalogue: Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra. Following Retro was Pop Christmas, a smattering of classic 80’s holiday tunes such as Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’, Band Aid’s ‘Do they Know It’s Christmas’, and the Pretenders’ ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’. Going by the era of these essential holiday tracks, listeners possess a deep nostalgia for older holiday music. The Rocking Christmas montage came last in appeal score at 57%, by no means negative. This music was a little more niche in its scope, including artists such as Ramones, The Kinks, and The Pogues.
Next, we wanted to gauge whether a listener would tune into a radio station playing the style of music in each of our holiday montages. Let’s look to the next chart:
Graph (below): Would you listen to a radio station that plays this type of Christmas music?
Consonant with our appeal findings of each montage, station retention remains highest in those montages that received the strongest appeal scores: Retro at 96%, 50’s Rock at 95% and Pop Christmas at 90%. In any case, a PD could look at these findings and infer that virtually any style of Christmas music would bring in strong ratings. However, one would err on the side of caution with regards to Rocking Christmas styles, and 90’s Hip-Hop, which received the lowest (albeit strong) station retention marks. The 90’s Hip-Hop holiday montage included TLC’s ‘Sleigh Ride’, Boyz II Men and Brian McKnight’s ‘Let It Snow’, and K-Ci & JoJo’s ‘In Love at Christmas’. It must be noted that these would be considered high scores for any format, let alone Christmas programming. Christmas radio listeners are indeed quite passionate for songs of the season.
Lastly, let’s look at fatigue levels of each montage style:
Graph (below): Please choose one of the following responses for how you feel about the Christmas music that is currently playing.
To no one’s surprise, the fatigue levels of the various Christmas montage styles were consistent with their appeal and retention scores. 50’s Rock comes in first, with 73% not tired of this particular style, followed by Pop Christmas (67%) and Retro (66%). Rocking Christmas and 90’s Hip-Hop (53% and 50%, respectively) finished last among fatigue levels. 47% of listeners are at least a ‘little tired’ of Rocking Christmas, and 50% at least a ‘little tired’ of 90s Hip-Hop.
In wrapping up this week’s media minute, it is important to note listeners’ preference for the older classic styles of Christmas music, specifically the 50’s rock, Retro, and Pop Christmas styles. Newer, more modern styles of Christmas music do not rate as highly as those with which listeners possess a deep nostalgia for. This is not to say these styles of Christmas music are unpopular, far from it. You just can’t go wrong with the classics.
Thanks for reading this week’s edition of the Harker Bos Group Media Minute. In next week’s blog, we will present a demographic breakdown of our nationwide holiday music survey.
Study Profile:
700+ Christmas Radio Listeners
50% Male, 50% Female
Ages 18-64
Nationwide Study
Montage Key:
-Retro
Bing Crosby – White Christmas (1947)
Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) (1961)
Frank Sinatra – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (1957)
-50s Rock
Brenda Lee – Jingle Bell Rock (1958)
Chuck Berry – Run Run Rudolph (1958)
Elvis – Blue Christmas (1957)
-Rocking Christmas
Ramones – Merry Christmas (I don’t want to fight tonight) (1987)
The Kinks – Father Christmas (1977)
The Pogues – Fairytale of New York (1987)
-Pop Christmas
Wham – Last Christmas (1984)
Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas (1984)
The Pretenders – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (1987)
-90s Hip Hop and R&B Christmas
TLC – Sleigh Ride
Boyz II Men and Brian McKnight – Let It Snow
K-Ci & JoJo – In Love at Christmas (1998)
-Beatles
Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime
John & Yoko – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
George Harrison – Ding Dong Ding Dong
-Modern Pop Christmas
Kelly Clarkson – Underneath the Tree (2013)
Ariana Grande – Santa Tell Me (2014)
Justin Bieber – Mistletoe (2011)
-Country Christmas
Dolly Parton – Hard Candy Christmas
Alabama – Christmas in Dixie
Johnny Cash – Little Drummer Boy