Bismarck’s Y93 Drops Longtime Branding, Goes All-Christmas

iHeartMedia’s KYYY/92.9 (Bismarck) has dropped its longtime “Y93” branding and switched to “Christmas 92.9.”

The change came Friday, Nov. 5, as iHeart launched the seasonal format on stations across the country. The others kept their regular branding.

RadioInsight, which first reported the news, notes that KYYY had been “Y92.9” since 1975. The facility is the oldest FM station in the region.

The station’s online playlist shows the old format went out with a “Bang” (from AJR) just before 5 p.m., with Andy Williams kicking off “Christmas 92.9” with “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

NorthPine.com records show that “Y93” had previously gone All-Christmas as recently as 2011, when the station’s format was Adult Contemporary. It later transitioned back to Contemporary Hits.

The Christmas playlist may have extra stunting power in Bismarck because no major commercial station in the market has adopted the seasonal format since it last aired on “Y93.”

In the Spring 2021 Nielsen Audio ratings, “Y93” ranked last among the market’s commercial FM stations in listeners 12+. Its CHR format had competed with Townsquare Media’s “Hot 97.5” (KKCT).