Holiday Rant: Song Selection on the Radio

First, I have to give props to my local radio station for playing its Christmas music earlier this year. When I was growing up, the station played 30 hours of Christmas music over Thanksgiving and Black Friday, before reverting to its usual lineup. 24x7 Christmas music wasn't played until mid-December. Nowadays, 'round-the-clock Christmas music began the week of Thanksgiving and won't stop until after Christmas. A definite improvement!

But who sets the holiday playlist?!? The station plays the same 30-some songs over and over in the same order. Oh, its the Carpenters singing "Merry Christmas, Darling;" that means Alvin and the Chipmunks are next. If I can maintain over 200 Christmas songs on my iPod, shouldn't a radio station have more of a selection?

At first I wondered if the station needed secular holiday songs, but nope, there is "Little Drummer Boy." My mother noted that maybe the station needed to stay true to its "soft rock" format. Nope, there's Carrie Underwood! No wonder people move to satellite radio or their iPods!

What is your reaction to the selection of Christmas songs on your local radio station?