The final survey of the year last week saw the return of Elf Radio to the DAB+ airwaves once again this year.
Santa has shared his approved high rotation category with us via his CEO (Chief Elf Operator) Shannon Fong, and we can reveal that the top songs being played on the North Pole’s number one hit music station this year are:
- Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? – 2024 Ultimate Mix
- Ed Sheeran – Under the Tree
- Ava Max – 1 Wish Dasha – Driving Home For Christmas
- Little Big Town – Someday At Christmas
- KYE – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas • SUPER-Hi x NEEKA – Get Ready (For Christmas)
- for KING & COUNTRY – Silent Night (Rewrapped)
- CeCe Winans – It’s Christmas / Joy To The World
Another of Santa’s helpers, Ken Benson, a top music research strategist at P1 Media Group, has also given us the gift of his insights into the top testing Christmas songs in America this year. We couldn’t help ourselves, so we opened the present he left under the radioinfo Christmas tree early, to share the results with you.
Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms remains America’s #1 best-testing Christmas song for seven of the past 8 years.
“Christmas music’s appeal remains as strong as ever amongst American radio listeners who listen to All Christmas stations ‘frequently’ or ‘sometimes’ and personally enjoy Christmas music on a local radio station during the holiday season,” reports Ken Benson.
P1 Media Group’s annual Christmas Music Research tested the appeal of the 100 most-played Christmas songs from the 2023 Holiday Season to produce this list for 2024.
- Five versions of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town, “Sleigh Ride,” and “Winter Wonderland” have made the list this year.
- Three Artists, Amy Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Williams, have four songs in the Top 100.
- Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” is the #1 tester for Women, while Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” is #1 for Men.
- The top testing Christmas songs by age are:
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- 18-24 “All I Want for Christmas is You” Mariah Carey
- 25-34 “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” Michael Buble with Burle Ives version a close second.
- 35-44 “Ring Christmas Bells” Ray Conniff
- 45-54 “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” Andy Williams.
- Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” from 2010 and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” 2014 are the two highest-testing original Christmas songs from the 2000s, ranking #51 and #54, respectively.
America’s top 20 testing Christmas songs are:
The full report (excel file) can be downloaded at www.p1mediagroup.com