UPDATE: It was all a stunt, after all. On Thursday, March 12, WQSH made a programming switch to a throwback hits platform now called Rewind 105.7 positioned as “Hits From The 80s, 90s & More,” as RadioInsight.com reports, promoting “feel good songs from Prince, Depeche Mode, Talking Heads, Michael Jackson, Alanis Morisette, The Cure, Madonna, Def Leppard and more.”
A stunt such as this can help to create a buffer zone amidst a format change to burn off listeners from the old programming and let the new station start more fresh, with less baggage.
Believe it or not, some people somewhere want to listen to holiday music all year round. And now they have a radio station that probably seems like a Christmas miracle… in March.
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WQSH-FM in Albany, N.Y., has now switched its name and formatting from PopCrush 105.7 to the new Santa 105.7, which is exactly what it sounds like. And before you go assuming it’s just some stunt, the station promises there’s the demand.
“This might strike some as being risky in this environment of new media, but I’ve looked at the numbers and they don’t lie,” sation owners Townsquare Media’s local market president, Jake Demmin, told Syracuse.com in a statement. “There’s literally a clamoring for Christmas music 24/7/365/52.”
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The switch happened Wednesday at midnight and Townsquare Media, formerly Regent Communications Inc., promises to play “everything from Sting to Bing.”
For the rest of you Christmas junkies, Santa 105.7 can be live streamed here.