Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Posted Friday, November 3, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Sure, with Pandora and Spotify, you can play Christmas tunes any time you want, whether it's December 15 or April 15. But if you like the convenience of radio, Sirius/XM on November 1 brought back Holly on Channel 70, normally the soft rock Love station.
Holly is the satellite radio's all-encompassing holiday station, mixing classics by Burl Ives and Frank Sinatra with contemporary artists like Michael Buble, Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor, Ariana Grande and Kelly Clarkson. It will play Christmas through December 30.
If you just want the Christmas oldies from the 1940s through the 1960s, Channel 4 will do the trick.
On Atlanta radio, the only major signal station that goes Christmas nowadays is Fish 104.7, usually the day before Thanksgiving, sometimes a little earlier. Joy 93.3, which skews south, also goes all Christmas. B98.5 used to go all Christmas but now only sprinkles in Christmas songs gradually over the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas before going all Christmas on Christmas Eve for a day. Star 94's HD2 channel, if you have HD, is also providing Christmas favorites.
SiriusXM will add other stations to the mix:
Navidad (channel 785) begins Monday, Nov. 27 at noon and continues through Sunday, Jan. 7 at 3 a.m. Navidad features contemporary Latin holiday music and with traditional classics, including Jose Feliciano, Fania All-Stars, Gloria Estefan, Marco Antonio Solis, El Gran Combo and Tito El Bambino.
Country Christmas (channel 58) begins Monday, Dec. 4 at noon and continues through Tuesday, Dec. 26 at 3 a.m. It features a mix of country Christmas music from contemporary and classic country artists like Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, and Willie Nelson.
Holiday Soul (channel 49) begins Monday, Dec. 4 at noon and continues through Tuesday, Dec. 26 at 3 a.m. It features classic soul and Motown holiday music from the '60s and '70s as well as R&B from the '80s and '90s including Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Dionne Warwick, The Four Tops, The Supremes, The O'Jays, James Brown, The Temptations, Lou Rawls and Toni Braxton.
Radio Hanukkah (channel 77) begins Tuesday, Dec. 12 at noon and continues through Thursday, Dec. 21 at 3 a.m. It features an extensive collection of Hanukkah-themed music, including contemporary, traditional and children's selections as well as daily reflections and prayers related to the holiday.
Holiday Pops (channel 76) begins Saturday, Dec. 24 at noon and continues through Tuesday, Dec. 26 at 3 a.m. It features classical Christmas carols and other holiday favorites by the greatest classical musicians of all-time, including the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Boston Pops, Luciano Pavarotti, The New York Philharmonic, King's College Choir and Thomas Hampson.
New Year's Nation (channel 4) begins Saturday, Dec. 30 at noon and continues through Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 3 a.m. It features the ultimate soundtrack to New Year's Eve parties around the country and will feature the biggest, upbeat party hits from genres across SiriusXM's music platform.
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