If you program a classic hits or adult contemporary radio station, this is pretty simple. It is called Christmas music. For news/talk radio stations, it is a little more complicated. There are many more questions than answers. You obviously have any network programming that you are carrying, but what about the local shows? Over the years, I have done different things. I don’t know if my ideas are better than yours; feel free to comment.
For Thanksgiving, I have followed this philosophy over the past few years. On Thanksgiving, I run the Fox News and Fisher House specials. I have six hours of local programming to fill the time. I am guessing that you have the same quandary. Best-of shows for your local programming can be a pain. If something goes wrong, a programmer will be on a laptop fixing the issues and not enjoying the holiday.
How do you pick the best-of shows? Most news talk stations are Topic A focused. How do you sound relevant? Does it matter? I think that running three hours of your local morning show discussing the government shutdown, which will likely be over, will sound as current as replaying coverage of the kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
If you are doing the best-of route for Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday, have your team begin to collect hours now. I have found that creating segments from different days and combining them into one hour of programming is quite challenging for the automation to sound right. Perhaps this is a shortcoming on my part, but I don’t want to spend my holiday on the laptop or going into the office.
So, get with your team and ask them to produce complete hours and have them ready by the Monday before Thanksgiving weekend. Obviously, time-sensitive content is not going to work. I heard a best-of from a syndicated show that was out of date by six months. Have some pride in your choices.
Black Friday used to be the best day for news talk. I think those days have passed in the last decade. Depending on your company’s policy, having your staff work on that day will create an extra day off before the end of the year. This is not an easy decision. I would base it on a market situation.
Ok, let’s talk about Christmas. There is no winning formula. Weststar offers Mannheim Steamroller, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has programming as well. You can load and play your own Christmas music. There is likely tremendous programming from your news service.
I know that Fox News Radio has three hours of special programming. I don’t know your situation, but I believe that if you have fresh content, it is best. Depending on your company policies, you may have December 26th as a company-wide day off as well.
So, Christmas has a Black Friday too. Yay us! Planning that may be a good idea. If you have not spoken with your team yet, this may be the best time to do so.
According to ChatGPT, a hot gift is personalized clothing. Here is a cool thing: it cannot be returned. If I receive a t-shirt with my picture and name on it, I can’t return it! What a win! Noise-canceling headphones are big. Soon everything will be as deaf as a radio human, so you will no longer need to ask people to speak up. 2025 is great.
For New Year’s Day, it gets a little easier. There is a plethora of end-of-year specials. You have to figure this out with your team. Again, if you are doing best-of programming, start building hours today. Make sure your programming is as enjoyable as possible. You may also have Black New Year’s Day. Your company may have that Friday off as well. There is a lot of programming to fill this year. I am sure you are fully capable of filling it, but the planning must start today.
I want my staff to enjoy time away from the office. I am reminded of this past Easter Sunday. Two of my stations were in weather coverage due to a tornado outbreak. Yes, breaking news happens on the holidays. Make sure your team is ready for any possibility. While most of us may not have a tornado outbreak, there could be snow, ice, or another breaking news situation where we will have to provide the information that our audience needs.
One year, I remember getting an ice storm on December 21st. My team and I were living at the radio station, and thankfully we were a short walk from the Waffle House, so we were fed. I remember getting home from work at 6 p.m. on December 24th. My home had just had power return. How do I know? It was 52 degrees in my crib.
Part of the fun of news/talk radio is that we are at the center of informing our communities during important moments. Being prepared for anything is our mission. This includes compelling holiday programming.
So, what are you doing? Please let us know in the comments.
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Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He currently serves as News/Talk Format Captain for Zimmer Communications. Prior to joining Zimmer, Peter held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.
