With less than two weeks until Christmas, tabulation of this year’s flips to All-Christmas playlists has concluded.
This is the 23rd season that NorthPine.com has tracked seasonal flips to All-Christmas playlists in the Upper Midwest (find previous years linked at the bottom of this year’s list). Here’s how things stacked up:
Station totals:
118 total full-power stations in the Upper Midwest/Manitoba, including HD Radio subchannels
92 full-power FM/HD1 stations, some of which have an uncounted number of FM translators
21 AM stations, including 12 with FM translators and two that simulcast with a full-power FM
5 HD Radio subchannels feeding FM translators
1 low-power FM
Breakdown by format:
39 AC/Hot AC
31 Non-commercial Christian
31 Classic Hits/Variety Hits/Oldies
8 Country/Classic Country
7 Soft Oldies/Easy Listening
2 Contemporary Christian (commercial)
1 CHR (changing format?)
Totals by state/province:
23 Iowa
2 Manitoba
7 Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
26 Minnesota
8 Nebraska
7 North Dakota
0 Northwestern Ontario
10 South Dakota
36 Wisconsin
Biggest days for flips in 2023:
Black Friday (Nov. 24): 31 flips
Thanksgiving (Nov. 23): 19 flips
Friday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 17): 8 flips
First day of November: 6 flips
First Friday of November (Nov. 3): 6 flips
Second Friday of November (Nov. 10): 6 flips
Note that the flip date of some stations is unknown
First flips, on Nov. 1: “106.1 The Sound” (WFXD-HD4 Marquette), “KPMI “1300 The Legends” (KPMI Bemidji), “Cash 95.9” WWWI-FM (Pillager-Brainerd), “Mix 103.3” (KLMS Lincoln), “Star 104.5” (KSRZ Omaha), “Pure Oldies 106.9” (WRXS Brookfield-Milwaukee)
Last flip, on Dec. 11: “Life 101.9” (KNWS-FM Waterloo-Cedar Rapids), after a few weeks of fading in Christmas music (Other stations may go All-Christmas just for the weekend, but flips of less than two weeks are not included on the list)
Rated markets without commercial stations running All-Christmas playlists in 2023: Duluth, Grand Island-Hastings-Kearney, Green Bay, and Mankato. All have had commercial All-Christmas stations in the past; previous perennial flippers in Green Bay, Hastings, and Mankato have changed format. The two Duluth stations that previously flipped have ceded the market to a non-commercial FM and a rimshot AM this season.
Cities with the most All-Christmas formats: Madison, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities all have four, when including WSJY/107.3 (Fort Atkinson) with Madison. Three of the stations in Madison and Milwaukee are commercial, while two in the Twin Cities are commercial.
Thanks to the many readers and stations which have submitted tips for this year’s list! If I’ve missed any, please email jonellis@northpine.com.
Thanks to reader tips, this post has been updated to reflect additional stations not previously listed.