Don’t Be Spooked: Xmas Arrives Already In Mahoning Valley

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On Wednesday, Sirius XM turned heads and even got mentioned on NBC’s TODAY program for announcing today’s return of Hallmark Channel Radio to kick off the “Countdown to Christmas.”


Cumulus Media doesn’t want to be outdone. It’s just flipped a Western Pennsylvania Class A serving the Youngstown, Ohio market to “The Valley’s Christmas Station” — a full week before Halloween arrives.

As of Noon Friday (10/25), the home for “Good Time Oldies” in Youngstown and nearby Sharon, Pa., officially became “Christmas 104.”

That would be WWIZ-FM, which was using programming from Cumulus’ Westwood One and flipped from Rock in March 2017. The Oldies format performed well in recent Nielsen Audio ratings, earning a 2.7 share in Spring 2019 — compared to a 1.7 share in Fall 2017.

That said, Christmas formats are temporary, and Oldies could be back come January 1.

Bill Kelly, VP/GM of Cumulus’ Youngstown-Warren, Ohio, stations, said, “With everything going on in the Mahoning Valley and in the world these days, we felt we could all use a little more Christmas right now. Playing Christmas music this early in the season will get our listeners in the Valley into the holiday spirit even more this year.”