Wrapping Up Christmas

February 5, 2026

Image by Pexels.

Faithful followers of this here missive know that we have done a version of the Radio Ratings Roundup for going on 12 years. Every survey we look at the fates and fortunes of the top 20 markets in the country. As a result, we get an in-depth look at how well Christmas music does every year.

A few observations for 2025:

• Of the 20 markets, six had more than one holiday hitmaker and one had zero converts.
• Every single station saw ratings growth in either the December or Holiday books. Or both.
• While the starting points for the seasonal rush were varied, they did not appear to have an effect on the ratings for the total book.
• In markets where more than one station was in the spirit, both of them got a ratings boost.

Here’s a takeaway that we have seen year after year: Christmas music has a minimal effect on market cume. As a matter of fact, you’re more likely to see market 6+ cume decline from December to Holiday. Are Christmas stations huge cume winners? You betcha. But all this phenomenon accomplishes is to rearrange the habits of those that are already radio listeners.

In other words, this popular format change does not bring new listeners TO radio.

This year we also tracked the changes in market PUMM. This was part of our effort to see how PUMM was affected by the new three-minute qualifier. From December to Holiday, most markets saw PUMM decrease. There are likely many factors that affected this. People are travelling “home for the holidays,” are working less, and are otherwise distracted by life. This could impact their time spent with radio. There was a PUMM bump when you looked at year over year comparisons, but we attribute that to the new reporting method.

The point here is not that Christmas music is a bad idea. At the very least I assume it is a boon to top line revenue. What we are saying is that this is not a bold marketing ploy that will attract those folks who find their audio entertainment elsewhere. In short, we are preaching to the existing choir.

The sugar high that Christmas music provides is fleeting. The cume will eventually drift back to from whence it came. By February things will return to normal(ish). This has been going on for over 25 years. The dynamics are not likely to change as we move forward.

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