Magic Radio will switch to playing all Christmas music from this Friday instead of launching a separate service.
Previously, Magic Christmas was in addition to the main station on 105.4 FM in London and DAB nationwide, but this year the festive tunes will replace the usual playlist.
The station tweeted the information on Tuesday morning, saying “So, um. This Friday at 9am… we’re going 100% Christmas.”
Bauer says it’s a first for a UK radio station to switch to an all-Christmas format, and that listeners can expect ‘festive editorial content and a selection of much-loved Christmas pop hits from the last fifty years’ – with an emphasis on 80s and 90s classics from WHAM!, The Pogues, Mariah Carey, Elton John and Paul McCartney.
Sky Cinema is sponsoring the rebrand to promote its Christmas movie offering.
Tony Moorey, Group Content Director told RadioToday: “Our listeners come to Magic Radio to lift their mood and with Christmas music being the number one reason for putting the UK in that festive spirit, we decided to embrace the season and turn the station 100% Christmas all of December.”
Magic Breakfast’s Ronan Keating said, “We’ve had this under wraps for three months and I am so excited that the news is out there. I can’t wait to kick Christmas off this Friday at 9am with our first Christmas song voted for by our listeners at magic.co.uk”
Magic Breakfast’s Harriet Scott added “No major station has ever done this before, what a way to get into the festive spirit!”
The station ran its Magic of Christmas event at the London Palladium last weekend, which included performances from Rick Astley, Boyzone, Gabrielle and Katherine Jenkins.
Heart extra Xmas has already started broadcasting across the UK, in addition to a number of other services from Wireless, UKRD and more.
So, um.
This Friday at 9am… we’re going 100% Christmas.
Yep. pic.twitter.com/ApAZgL59up
— Magic Radio – More of the Songs You Love ? (@magicfm) November 27, 2018
Posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2018 at 11:34 am by Roy Martin