2010 version of this survey available here:

http://doghousecharlie.com/2011/12/christmas-2010/

***PLEASE NOTE: In some cases I have added programs that have already aired, but are available for 7 days or more via the internet archive. Be sure and watch for this aspect.***

I would appreciate your comments, criticisms, suggestions, corrections and additions to this survey of Christmas Programming. You can contact me via the contact page on this website. Its a work in progress, so check back often. I hope you find it useful.

“Christmas Programming” is perhaps a bit inaccurate. There is other “seasonal” programming information available, including Hannukah, New Years’ Eve and New Years’ Day.

There are also some non-radio items for your entertainment, amusement and amazement.

Radio Prague

A Christmas Message from the survivors of Lidice, in 1945

With Christmas just round the corner, we break our chronological journey through the archives this week to go back to Christmas 1945. We’re in Kročehlavy, a suburb of the industrial town of Kladno near Prague. This was home to the survivors of one of the horrors of the wartime occupation, the murder in June 1942 of all the men and most of the children from the nearby village of Lidice. Only one Lidice family had survived the massacre intact: Josef Horák was one of two young pilots from the village who had fled at the beginning of the occupation, and he spent the war serving in Britain’s Royal Air Force. After the liberation he moved straight back to Czechoslovakia with his English wife Wynne and their two small children. The family was a symbol of a new life for Lidice, and over Christmas 1945 Czechoslovak Radio arranged a radio bridge to Britain from a Christmas party in the Horáks’ living room. Here is a slightly edited version of that broadcast.

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/archives/a-christmas-message-from-the-survivors-of-lidice-in-1945-1#0

What radio sounded like at Christmas 1929

Vatican Radio and Television

The Wednesday General Audience was Pope Benedict XVI’s last public appointment before the beginning of Christmas celebrations. The Holy Father will preside at the Christmas vigil in St Peter’s Basilica, beginning 10 pm Rome time. Full live coverage of all Christmas celebrations here at the Vatican will be streamed live by Vatican Television and Vatican Radio with commentary options in English, on www.vatican.va/video

BBC

From the Archive:

A collection of programmes about the economy, business and economic theory. From bailing out the banks and crises in the Eurozone, to UK austerity measures and economic slowdown.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/economics-slowdown/

See more collections at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/collections

The Radio 4 interactive team

For a closer look across this week’s programming, view our Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra weekly schedules.
Radio 4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/schedules/fm/this_week/grid
Radio 4 Extra: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4extra/programmes/schedules/this_week/grid

Find us on Facebook – BBCRadio4 and on Twitter @BBCRadio4 – tweet using #bbcradio4
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BBCRadio4
Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/BBCRadio4

Catch the latest news and updates on the Radio 4 and 4 Extra blog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio4/

In these gloomy economic times, and with the dark deep nights of December upon us, it’s not surprising that many of us welcome a spot of comedy to bring some laughter to our lives, whether via the radio, on stage or television.

Here at Radio 4 Extra, we know that comedy is the biggest draw to our network, and there’s always at least one comedy title in the top three in our daily BBC IPlayer charts.

Radio 4′s presenter of Open Book, Mariella Frostrup, is well aware of the value of laughter too. She came up with the idea of celebrating funny books and funny writers, resulting in a search for Open Book’s Funniest Book.

Mariella’s mission to dispel gloom began in a series of 5 programmes which started last month (Open Book, Radio 4, Sunday, repeated on Thursday).

The programmes included a mini-history of comic writing, whereby Mariella discussed with academic John Mullen, various aspects of class comic writing in literature throughout the ages, from medieval times to the present day.

Guests who joined in the discussions included Terry Jones, Fiona Shaw, Roy Hattersley and Ronald Harwood.

The search is all set to culminate in an Open Book’s Funniest Book Balloon Debate, in which a panel of top writers and comedians take it in turns to convince an audience that their personal choice of a comedy book is the most consistently funny read.

The panel and their choices are:
Tony Parsons (The Virgin Soldiers by Leslie Thomas)
A.L Kennedy (The Loved Ones by Evelyn Waugh)
John Sessions (1066 and All That by WC Sellar & RJ Yeatman)
Jo Brand (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 and Three Quarters by Sue Townsend)
Christopher Brookmyre (Swing Hammer Swing, by Jeff Torrington).

The Open Book’s Funniest Book Balloon Debate was recorded with an audience on Thursday this week in the BBC Radio Theatre in London, and the programme will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Christmas Eve.

The audience had great fun listening to the debate and the readings, then joining in with the voting to decide which of the 5 books would, one by one, be dropped off the balloon.

Finally we all voted for a winner. And the winner is..? Sorry – you’ll have to wait till Christmas Eve to find out!

I was interested to read on the Open Book blog the list of books listeners recommended as laugh-inducing literature, and a few of the titles, I was pleased to note, have been broadcast on Radio 4 Extra.

Listeners’ choices included such popular titles as My Family and Other Animals, Lucky Jim, Cold Comfort Farm and Billy Liar. You can still read their comments and recommendations on the Open Book blog.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio4/2011/11/open_books_funniest_book.html

I would of course be interested to hear what your favourite funny book is – do let me know, by e-mail, and we’ll check the archive to see if any of them have been recorded and can be repeated to help bring even more laughter to you throughout the winter.

****

Radio 4 Extra, week of December 9-16

The Goon Show
Operation Christmas Duff
Seasonal shenanigans with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. Neddie Seagoon addresses a shortage of Christmas puddings for overseas forces. This special edition was made for the troops abroad and broadcast in December 1956. The producer was Pat Dixon.
Tuesday at 8am, midday and 7pm

In One Ear
Helen Lederer and Nick Wilton star in this festive offering from 1984, as they bicker over Margaret Thatcher’s Britain and take a swipe at seasonal sexism. The producer was Jamie Rix.
Friday at 10.30pm

Mastering the Universe
6/6 Christmas
Professor Joy Klamp – reader in Passive Aggression at Sussex University – delves into the many ways to help make the festive season truly miserable. Dawn French, Lucy Montgomery and Geoffrey Whitehead star in this comedy from December 2005. The producer was Simon Nicholls.
Friday at 11pm

Crime and Thrillers
Christmas with the Detectives
1-4/4
Tom Conti reads five detective stories for the festive season.

1/4 The Blue Carbuncle
A goose plays an integral part in a Christmas Sherlock Holmes mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
2/4 The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing
Horse thieves and house breakers roam the moors on Christmas Eve in Thomas Hardy’s seasonal mystery.
3/4 The Necklace of Pearls
Lord Peter Wimsey investigates a Christmas country house robbery in this seasonal tale by Dorothy L. Sayers.
4/4 The Flying Stars
Father Brown is in the audience to help solve a robbery during a Pantomime in this festive tale by G.K. Chesterton.
Tuesday to Friday at 11am, 9pm and 4am

Friday 16 December – Friday 23 December

Hello listeners,

The Christmas countdown is firmly underway – but whether you’ve done all your shopping and decorated the tree or have yet to even make a start, make sure you take some time to enjoy some great programmes and Christmas crackers here on Radio 4.

Forthcoming highlights

With Christmas cards winging their way through the post, don’t miss the final episodes of our series ‘The People’s Post: A Narrative History of the Post Office’.

http://bbc.in/u6Bpgc

See pictures to support the series: http://bit.ly/vfYCkW
Read about the iconic Penny Black on the Radio 4 Blog:

http://bbc.in/uRyD0U

As the 400th anniversary of the translation of the Bible into English draws to a close Paul Gambaccini picks out some of the 100′s of pop songs from Elvis to U2 that have been inspired by the Old and New Testaments in Pop Goes The Bible!

http://bbc.in/s02ANv

Saturday Dec 17

Pop Goes the Bible! – 10.30am
As the 400th anniversary of the translation of the Bible into English draws to a close Paul Gambaccini picks out some of the 100′s of pop songs that have been inspired by the Old and New Testaments.

http://bbc.in/s02ANv

Sunday Dec 18

What the Donkey Saw: UA Fanthorpe’s Christmas Poems – 4.30pm
Sheila Hancock reads a selection of poems written especially for Christmas by UA Fanthorpe, a poet both popular and critically acclaimed.

http://bbc.in/u0XHJ6

Friday 23rd December

O Henry Stories – Gift of the Magi – 3.45pm
A young couple struggle to find the money for a really special Christmas present for each other. A Christmas classic by a cherished American writer.

http://bbc.in/tZ3l77

***

Radio 4 Extra Dec 16-23

Hello again

This week we began decorating the Radio 4 Extra office, not only to get into the festive spirit, but also to celebrate nine years since the launch of our archive network – BBC 7 as was – launched on 15th December, 2002.

However, when we shook out the recycled decorations from the cupboard, sadly, the red artificial tree, gold baubles, the red and yellow paper chains (the colours of the BBC 7 original logo) looked quite tired against the smart new purple logo of Radio 4 Extra.

So all this week, our thrifty Business Manager, Rachel, has disappeared into a small office every lunch time, with any volunteers she could coerce, and yesterday they appeared with armfuls of carefully crafted purple, pink and lilac paper chains and hanging paper baubles, all festooned with purple satin ribbon.

I must contact Blue Peter to check if Rachel and her volunteers can be awarded Blue Peter badges; apparently there is a purple Blue Peter badge, awarded for good “team players”.

How appropriate!

Keeping within the spirit of “hand-made” we had a veritable feast in the office on Thursday for the 9th birthday; home made mince pies and cupcakes galore (more Blue Peter badges to be awarded).

Next year we will have 2 birthdays to celebrate (like the Queen!) April 2nd 2012 will be the first birthday for Radio 4 Extra, and December the 15th will be the 10th anniversary of the launch of our archive network. May we have many more celebrations to come.

But now on to the festive listening fare I recommend for the week ahead:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4extra/programmes/schedules/2011/w51/grid/ataglance

The Selection

Barry Cryer’s Christmas Selection Box – Part 1/2
The jovial host selects some of the BBC archive’s festive jewels: Radio Active, The Masterson Inheritance, Round the Horne, Lines from my Grandfather’s Christmas Forehead and The Goon Show.
Saturday at 9am and 7pm

Classic Comedy
Take It From Here
In this Christmas special Pa Glum mediates between Ron and Eth – but who is going to get which present? Starring Jimmy Edwards, June Whitfield and Alma Cogan and written by Denis Norden. From December 1953.
Sunday at 8am, 3pm and 8pm

The Goon Show
The International Christmas Pudding
More Christmas high jinx with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe. An eccentric millionaire funds an expedition for fragments of a famous dessert. From November 1955 and produced by Peter Eton.
Tuesday at 8am, 12pm and 7pm

Hancock’s Half Hour
Bill and Father Christmas
It’s a far from festive season when Bill overhears the blabbermouth lad. Galton and Simpson’s Christmas special stars Tony Hancock and Bill Kerr. From December 1958.
Wednesday at 8am, 12pm and 7pm

Black Cinderella Two Goes East
or Confessions Of A Glass Slipper Tryer Onner
All-star panto set in the land of Saxmania. Co-produced by Douglas Adams and starring Peter Cook, John Cleese and Bill Oddie. The scriptwriters were Clive Anderson and Rory McGrath. From December 1978.
Thursday at 10am and 3pm

Comedy Zone

My Music
Christmas Special
A festive panel game in which musical delights are abundant. Topics include wassailing, ‘sums in songs’ and Dessert (sic) Island Discs. With Frank Muir, Ian Wallace, Denis Norden and Steve Race. From December 1984.
Monday at 9.30am and 2.30am

Cabin Pressure At Christmas
It’s the big day, but MJN Air is at work. Will Arthur get his festive celebration? Stars Roger Allam and Benedict Cumberbatch. From December 2010.
Wednesday at 9am and 2am

Comedy Club

Sir Henry Rawlinson At Rawlinson End
A Christmas Eating At Rawlinson End
Surreal saga of a dynasty delicately balanced on the edge of sanity. Written by and stars Viv Stanshall. From December 1996.
Saturday at 1045pm

Count Arthur Strong’s Christmas Special!
The bumbling theatre veteran prepares for a seasonal appearance at an old folk’s home. Starring Steve Delaney, Sue Perkins, David Mounfield and Alastair Kerr and produced by Mark Radcliffe and John Leonard. It was first broadcast in December 2006.
Monday at 9am and 1030pm

The Masterson Inheritance
Christmas Special 1993
The family face repercussions from a child’s innocent gift. Improvised historical saga with Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin and Phelim McDermott. From December 1993.
Tuesday at 11.30pm

The Cheese Shop Presents
The Brandy Butter Factor – Christmas Special 1997
A festive hamper of seasonal sketches with Gerard Foster, Dave Lamb, Gordon Southern and Tim Verrinder. From December 1997.
Thursday at 11pm

Old Harry’s Game – Christmas Spirit
1/2
4 Extra Debut
Satan decides to ban Christmas in Hell. Starring Andy Hamilton and Annette Crosbie and produced by Paul Mayhew-Archer. From December 2010.
Friday at 1030pm

And Now In Colour – Christmas Secial
Mix the real ale cocktails, partially defrost the pork pies – it’s party time! Boogie on down with Tim Firth, Tim de Jongh, Michael Rutger, William VanDyck and anyone else sober enough to turn up at their house.
Friday at 1130pm

Drama

The Doppler Effect
Alex Lanipekun and Laura Molyneux star in Sheila Goff’s seasonal story. Six characters, each having their own concerns as Christmas approaches, are linked by their reactions to an unexpected urban incident. From December 2007.
Monday at 11.15am, 9.15pm and 2.15am

The Holly and the Ivy
The Magic of Christmas works in mysterious ways in Wynyard Browne’s classic stage play. Norfolk 1947: a parson tries to find the true meaning of Christmas. Starring Kenneth Alan Taylor and dramatised by Johnathan Hall.
Wednesday at 10am and 3pm

The Chronicles of Narnia – The Magician’s Nephew
1/3
The Magician’s Nephew: The first of CS Lewis’ classic Narnia fantasy books starring Paul Scofield and David Suchet in this brilliant Radio Theatre production. A lion sings a new world into existence, but a dark treachery threatens its future.
Friday at 11am, 3pm and 5am

Young Classics

The Tailor of Gloucester
The poor Tailor of Gloucester must make a coat of cherry-coloured corded silk for the Mayor of Gloucester to be married in on Christmas morning. A magical radio dramatisation for all the family of this favourite Christmas tale by Beatrix Potter starring Miriam Margolyes. It was dramatised by Sarah Woods.
Sunday at 9.30am, 4.30pm and 5.30am

Fact and Fiction

Twas the Night Before Christmas
Poet Ian McMillan travels to New York in search of information about this most famous and seasonal poem. Feature first broadcast in 2002.
Saturday at 7.30am

The 4 O’Clock Show
Mel Giedroyc presents the weekday family show, with a mix of conversation, entertainment and stories.

Elizabeth Clark, Senior Content Producer on The 4 O’Clock Show looks forward to the week ahead:

I’ll start with a Christmas riddle for you this week: When does a carving knife travel? Mel will give you the answer on Wednesday’s show. Food Glorious Food is foremost on Mel’s mind this week. Her own advent calendar might be full of CHOCOLATE but our 4 O’Clock Show calendar is throwing up all sorts of treats like TURKEY, CHRISTMAS PUDDING and DUNG-SMOKED LAMB. Yes, I did say dung-smoked lamb. That’s just one of the Icelandic delicacies you’ll be hearing about this week – there’s also CRUNCHY MOSS, BOILED
SHEEP HEADS, and ROTTED SHARK. Sounds like a bush-tucker trial to me. But there’s a lovely dessert every day this week when HONEY-loving Winnie the Pooh and his friends are brought to life by the amazing Alan Bennett.
Monday to Friday at 4pm

Saturday December 17

Pop Goes the Bible BBC Radio 4

As the 400th anniversary of the translation of the Bible into English draws to a close Paul Gambaccini picks out some of the 100′s of pop songs that have been inspired by the Old and New Testaments. The stories, characters and text have led to a huge catalogue of songs ranging from Elvis Presley (‘Adam and Evil’), to Bob Dylan (Highway 61 Revisited), Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (‘Joseph’ and ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar’), The Byrds (Turn! Turn! Turn!), Leonard Cohen (‘Hallelujah’), and U2 (’40′ and ‘Yahweh’).

Paul talks to Tim Rice about his early schooling which laid down for him an intimate knowledge of Bible stories. One of his favourites was that of ‘Joseph’ and the musical that evolved became the foundation of the Rice/Lloyd-Webber partnership. His fascination with the stories and characters took Rice not only on to ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar’ but more recently to the story of King David and Saul. He talks about his continued absorption in the people within the pages of the Bible.

Diana Lipton, an Old Testament scholar, shows how many popular song treatments refresh the ancient stories by setting them in an entirely different and often contemporary context. She cites Bob Dylan’s treatment of the story of Abraham and Isaac in ‘Highway 61 Revisited’, but also finds a connection in Tom Jones’ hit ‘Delilah’. Although the only Biblical connection is the name ‘Delilah’, the blind passion of both the character in the song and Samson provokes the same disastrous outcome.

U2, with their song ’40′, took much of the lyric from Psalm 40, and rock critic Neil McCormick points to the close connection between Bono and his religious upbringing, a connection which – as in many of the songs in this programme – feeds into popular song culture.

Producer: Richard Bannerman
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018851w

Sunday December 18

Treasure Island Oldies 15th Annual Christmas Show

9pm-1am ET, 6pm-10pm PT 0200-0600 UTC

The Christmas program will be available as an archived show until early January!

http://www.treasureislandoldies.com

Tuesday December 20

Wednesday December 21

Home > Audiences & Angelus >  21/12/2011 14.50.35

Pope Benedict: A sacred and Christian Christmas

The last general audience of 2011, was a festive affair. Traditional Alpine bagpipe players dressed in leather breeches, entertained the eight thousand people packed into the Paul VI audience hall as they waited for Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival, while small children escaped the clutches of their parents to gaze in awe at the life size Nativity Scene gifted this year by the people of Pueblo in Mexico. Listen to our full report:

More at: http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=548319

Thursday December 22

Warning for icy roads around Christmas

Published: torsdag 22 december kl 17:43 , Radio Sweden Comment 1 gillar Share

The Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI) is warning drivers to take it easy on the slippery roads on the days leading up to Christmas.

Friday will be a busy travelling day as people try to get where they are going on Christmas Eve, which is on a Saturday this year. A Class 1 warning has been issued in Dalarna, Gävleborg, Jämtland, and Västernorrland. Road conditions from Dalarna and north are expected to be icy and snowy.

Rain is expected to move in from the west over Götaland and Sveland on Christmas Eve, making for slippery conditions for those areas.

Temperatures will be rising on Christmas Day, and the following week is expected to be unusually mild, with temperatures reaching 12 degrees Celsius in some southern areas.

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=4872939

Home > Charity & Solidarity >  22/12/2011 13.38.36

Charity in action this Christmas

On Christmas Day the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere here in Rome will transform itself into a huge banqueting hall offering lunch and festive cheer to thousands of people in need. The event is being organised by the St Egidio Community and there will be similar gatherings in 70 countries where the community is based.
Spokesperson for the St Egidio Community, Mario Marazziti told Lydia O’Kane, “the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere will become the mother of all Christmas meals”. Listen

Home > Church >  22/12/2011 15.50.25

Musical Tour of Christmas

Monsignor Philip Whitmore brings us a musical tour of Christmas past from the fifteenth century right through to the twentieth.

A tour which begins with Handel’s Oratorio ‘Messiah’ and J.S.Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Moving on to Hector Berlioz, Benjamin Britten with among other pieces his setting of a poem by the English Jesuit Martyr Saint Robert Southwell. And ends with music from Spaniard Tomas Luis de Victoira as well as from two twentieth century French composers: Francis Poulence and Olivier Messiaen .

Be sure to listen to this Christmas meditation with has as final touch Taveners’s solemn affirmation of the central truth of the Incarnation. Christ is born.

A programme produced by Veronica Scarisbrick.

Listen :

Michael Bublé

Synopsis

In the final In Concert of 2011, Jo Whiley presents a headline show from Michael Bublé, recorded earlier this month in London in front of an audience of 300 Radio 2 listeners and fans.

Jo chats to Michael before this festive concert in which he performs some of his classic hits and songs from his latest album ‘Christmas’.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01872nv

Friday December 23

The White Christmas Story

Synopsis

Martin Sheen tells the story of the biggest-selling song in history, one that’s been recorded by anyone who’s anyone in music: from Sinatra to Streisand, Elvis to Dylan, Aretha to Otis, Bette Midler and Bob Marley.

When Irving Berlin wrote the song in January 1940, he told his secretary: “I’ve just written the best song I ever wrote…The best song anybody ever wrote.” His declaration proved accurate. And once recorded [at Berlin's insistence] by Bing Crosby for the film Holiday Inn, the platform was created for White Christmas to become one of the best loved songs of all times.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01874gk

As It Happens CBC Radio One/CBC Northern Quebec Shortwave Service 630pm local, 2230 UTC

Annual Christmas program from CBC Radio One’s As It Happens. Featuring greetings from Canadian military personnel serving around the globe and concluding with an annual fan favourite, Alan Maitland reading “The Shepherd”. Not to be missed!

http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/as_it_happens

Hold the front page – Christmas time for journos

• How do you celebrate Christmas? Answers from our colleagues, Polish and foreign journalists

They work hard to provide news coverage all year long. But how will journalists celebrate Christmas this year?

Michal Kubicki reports.

http://www.thenews.pl/1/6/Artykul/81039,Hold-the-front-page-Christmas-time-for-journos

Should Christmas carp be better protected?

23.12.2011 13:30

• Should Christmas carp be better protected?

Carp should be better protected by the law in the run up to Christmas, say animal rights activists, when many of them will land up on the dinner table in Poland.

Carp is the central part of the Polish traditional Christmas Eve dinner, making DIY fish killing a feature of the holiday season in Poland each year.

But as Alicja Baczyńska reports, the Attorney General, Andrzej Seremet has appealed to lawyers to not turn a blind eye to the non-humanitarian treatment of carp.

http://www.thenews.pl/1/6/Artykul/80646,Should-Christmas-carp-be-better-protected

Saturday December 24

105th Anniversary of the first radio broadcast. On Dec 24, 1906 Reginald Fessenden made the first voice broadcast on radio from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Here is audio of a recreation of that historic broadcast.

http://www.radiocom.net/BObcst.m4a

Mike Cleaver

Today marks 50 years in broadcasting for me.
My first paid shift was Christmas Eve, 1961 at CKOV in Kelowna, BC.
I did station ids and the weather forecast between 15 minute recorded Christmas Shows from 6pm to 1am.
And I forgot to turn off the transmitter at sign-off.
It’s been a hell of a ride and I still tell people I’ve never worked a day in my life.
It’s all fun when you love what you do.
A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone on this board, members and lurkers both. And here’s hoping 2012 will be a super year for everyone.

via the Southern Ontario Western NY Radio board

Radio That Doesn’t Suck

If you are interested, we are playing the classic CKFM “A Christmas Carol”, featuring the mellifluous orations of Carl Banas, tonight at 8p ET. Christmas Day at 12p ET, we are playing the Polydor version with Carl narrating.

Merry Christmas for those that are celebrating, and for those not, have a great day anyway

http://www.rtds.ca/

Radio New Zealand National

6:06 Great Encounters  (0506 UTC)

Repeating an interview that Nine to Noon presenter Kathryn Ryan did in February with top-selling novelist Jackie Collins (RNZ)

7:06 Christmas Eve with Peter Fry (0606 UTC)

Four hours of music, reminiscences and entertainment, including your requests

11:06 Wayne’s Christmas Music (1006 UTC)

An hour of tunes too good to be forgotten presented by Wayne Mowat (RNZ)

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/schedules

12:04 All Night Programme

(1104 UTC  24th)

Including: 12:05 Music after Midnight; 1:15 History Repeated (RNZ); 2:06 Spiritual Outlook (BBC); 2:35 Hymns (RNZ); 3:15 Happy Birthday Christmas, by Elizabeth Smither (RNZ); 3:35 NZ Books (RNZ); 4:30 One Planet (BBC); 5:35 Auckland Stories (RNZ)

6:06 Sugar and Spice’s Christmas Morning (1706 UTC 24th)

Christmas fairies Sugar and Spice are back to get your Christmas morning off to an entertaining start and put you in a festive mood for the rest of the day, including

7:06 Christmas Church Service: From Pitt Street Methodist Church in central Auckland (RNZ)

Sounds of the Sixties BBC Radio 2 24/12/2011

Synopsis

There’s a sprinkling of Sixties Christmas tracks this week including Adam Faith, Connie Francis, Booker T & The MG’s, Roy Castle, Carla Thomas, Big Dee Irwin & Little Eva and The Barron Knights. The Sixties dance is Doing The Uncle Willie (er, no…we don’t remember that one either!) – listen carefully for the steps. The ‘Answer Song’ is the reply to Roger Miller’s – King Of The Road.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018842w

Behind the Fairytale

Synopsis

Dermot O’Leary presents the multi-layered story behind the Christmas classic Fairytale of New York by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl.

The programme explores the origins and journey of this iconic song, from how it came to be written; to the recording process; the repercussions for the Irish emigrant population in New York; and its continuing testament to the talents of the late Kirsty MacColl.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0188438

RTE 1- Ireland (All times UTC)

CHML 900kHz Hamilton, ON

12:00 AM – Old Radio Shows, Christmas edition
03:00 AM – Dr. Joy Browne
06:00 AM – Best of Charles Adler
08:00 AM – Just for the Health of It
09:00 AM – Christmas Is
04:00 PM – Mat Holmes Christmas Special
06:00 PM – Mission Services Christmas
07:00 PM – A Christmas Carol
08:00 PM – Paul Reid Christmas
10:00 PM – Old Radio Shows, Christmas edition

Paul Reid Christmas is one of my all time favourite radio programs, evoking a nostalgia for simpler times. It’s a real treasure!

http://www.900chml.com/OnAirSchedule.aspx

Radio Scooter International

48 hours of continuous Christmas music beginning at 1200AM

http://www.radioscooterinternational.net/

David Marsden

It is with great pleasure that once again this year I get to be on the radio on Christmas Eve. For me it’s the greatest night of the year to do a radio show. It’s not all about the same old Christmas music, but it is about music and some words. A story or two and – well just come and join us.

Years (decades) ago I was influenced by the great Carl Banas, who always did wonderful Christmas Shows. And I take great delight in being able to carry on with something special for Christmas Eve. And it is LIVE.

With anticipation, I invite you to come join us at 94.9 FM The Rock or anywhere in the world at The Rock.fm.

MGThe Rock

Merry Christmas to YOU! -  Marsden

Sunday December 25

DENVER – Santa’s trackers at the North American Aerospace Defence Command say they are breaking records this Christmas Eve.

Volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado were fielding 8,000 calls an hour Saturday afternoon, on pace to break a record, as they told the mostly young callers where Santa was flying.

Click here to see Santa’s whereabouts

More at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1106793–norad-santa-trackers-expect-busy-holiday

RTE 1- Ireland (All times UTC)

Radio Romania International

On Sunday, in “Inside Romania” we’ll take a tour of the Christmas fairs in Romania. Winter has a special charm in the Romanian villages. A thick snow layer covers everything around, the fire is smouldering in the stove, the smoke is getting slowly up the chimneys…and on Christmas Eve, the village is resounding with songs and merry chimes…that is why we invite you to take a glimpse at winter celebrations in Romania. Later in the program, Ana- Maria Palcu invites you to a special Christmas edition of “Sunday Studio”.

BBC Radio 2 Christmas Day schedule

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/programmes/schedules/2011/12/25

BBC Radio 4 Christmas Day schedule

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/schedules/fm/2011/12/25

BBC Radio 4extra Christmas Day schedule

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4extra/programmes/schedules/2011/12/25

** CHINA [non]. 5990, Dec 24 at 2337, CRI via CUBA is playing ``Silent
Night`` in Chinese by women`s choir with organ and chime
accompaniment, very nice rendition, so I hasten to the much better-
modulated relay via CANADA on 6040. Announceress then explains that
Xmas is observed more and more in China than it was two decades ago,
but Chinese people are able to ``discard all the religious
connotations and go right to the fun part``. Well put! Considering it
the western equivalent of the Chinese new year/spring festival
celebrations. Next is ``Carol of the Bells`` except she calls it
``Xmas Bells``, originally Ukrainian. 

A 2010 survey found that there are 23 megaChristians in China, and 5.7
megaCatholix (not stated whether counted separately or as part of the
Christian total). Next: ``Sleigh Ride``, allegedly the No. 1 Xmas tune
around the world. Can we trust these stats coming from the ChiCom?
2347 ``Jingle Bells`` except the chorus sings the English (?) words
``Ding-Ding-Dong`` instead. Says it was originally composed for
Thanksgiving, not Xmas. Finally, the ``Hosanna in the Highest`` carol,
did not catch what she called it. Program outro as `China Horizons`
featuring a Chinese women`s singing group, whose name I did not catch
either, but they were excellent, and retrieving this program would be
worthwhile if they ever include it at

http://english.cri.cn/08webcast/horizons.htm

(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

China Radio International's "China Horizons" programme on December 25
(already available for download on the CRI website) features Chinese
version of these Christmas classics:
* “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”
* “Silent Night”
* “Christmas Bells”
* “Sleigh Ride”
* “Jingle Bells”
* “Ding Dong Merrily on High”

A very pleasant programme and worth tuning-in, or downloading at

http://media.iphone.cri.cn/features/horizons/2011/1225horizons.mp3

China Horizons is scheduled from xx.30 - xx.55 on Sunday at 00, 01,
02, 03,04, 05, 06, 07, 09, 10, 11, 12, 15, 18, 19, and 22 hrs UT
(Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

The Chinese Christmas music is beautiful; people please check it out!
Thank you for providing it Glenn - best wishes!- (Robin in SF CA USA
Springer, ptsw yg via DXLD)

All of the above via Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest Edition #1152 http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld1152.txt
http://www.worldofradio.com

AFTER CHRISTMAS

MATINEE IDLE

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/matineeidle

Matinee Idle has returned for another year. Hosted by Phil O’Brien and Simon Morris, it is a daily trip into the weird the wacky and the wonderful of recorded music. Phil and Simon, with their twisted sense of humour, take the listener to places seldom visited…if you like Dr Demento you will love these guys!

Daily at 635 pm Eastern, 2330 UTC Sunday through Thursday.

NEW YEARS EVE AROUND THE WORLD

A New Year is coming. It’s just around the corner. Here is an article I wrote in 2005. It describes the adventure one can have, touring the globe in 24 hours from the comfort of ones own home, thanks to shortwave radio and the internet.

Early in the morning of December 31st (here in Eastern North America) places like New Zealand and Australia are already ringing in the New Year. Through shortwave radio and/or the internet, you can join them. Take the tour. It’s a blast.

http://www.monitoringtimes.com/Around-in-24-hrs.pdf

Auld Lang Syne is forever associated with New Years’ Eve, especially in North America where Canadian-born Band Leader Guy Lombardo made it the centrepiece of his annual New Years broadcasts on Radio and TV from 1929 to the 1970s.

Lombardo introduced:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBHxfkKm0Ck

Another Lombardo Standard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6CZKVGSb1E

Listening to these clips takes me back to childhood, being allowed to stay up to see the New Year in, and listening to these tunes (which I thought at the time were terribly old fashioned, but which I find endearing today.

Posted by Keith Perron on Facebook:

The Happy Station Show New Years special is now available. I have a very special guest on the show. Tom Meijer who hosted over 20 Happy Station Show new years programs www.pcjmedia.com (via Mike Terry, odxa yahoo group)

Bigfry’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Live Dec 31st 2011 on LG73! http://www.lg73.ca 8pm Pacific Time

New Zealand 1100UTC 6AM Eastern  http://www.radionz.co.nz/

Australia 1300 UTC  8AM Eastern 9580 kHz http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/

Melbourne 1300 UTC 8AM Eastern http://www.3aw.com.au/

Darwin 1430 UTC 930 AM Eastern http://www.abc.net.au/darwin/

Perth 1600 UTC 11AM Eastern http://www.6pr.com.au/

Japan 1500 UTC http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

This page from NHK, automatically opens a player with NHK World TV. This might be worth checking as midnight in Japan approaches.

Radio Japan broadcasts in Japanese to the Americas from 15-17 UTC on 9535 kHz and to Asia on 9750 kHz from 7-17 UTC.

The last night of every year brings us a unique opportunity for catching the RNE stations in the
Canary Islands with own programming at night. All RN and R5TN outlets leave the national network
at some point around 2230 UTC/Canary Is. time (2330 in mainland Spain) for a regional special program
to receive the new year. The content is usually funny music with phone calls from listeners and messages
from the Regional Goverment President and some other Authorities. This program ends some minutes after
the midnight Canary Is./UTC time. These are the RNE stations in the Canary Islands:

RN     Las Palmas  576 kHz
RN     Tenerife        621 kHz
R5TN  Tenerife        720 kHz

Mauricio Molano
Salamanca
ESPAÑA – SPAIN
RX site:  Aldea del Cano, Cáceres.
LAT:  39º17’09.70 N    LONG: 6º19’00 W
RX: PERSEUS.   ANT: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+
(http://moladx.blogspot.com/) (via DXLD Yahoo group Dec 31, 2011)

BBC Radio 4 Correspondents Look Ahead Dec 30 2011

The turmoil on the world’s economic markets was anticipated but no-one predicted the revolution which swept the Middle East in the so-called Arab Spring. So what is likely to happen in 2012?

Owen Bennett Jones chairs a discussion with the BBC’s special correspondent Lyse Doucet, North America Editor Mark Mardell, Newsnight’s Economics Editor Paul Mason and diplomatic correspondent James Robbins.

Paul Mason was right about one thing last year, anticipating the problems faced by the Eurozone. Lyse Doucet can lay claim to have predicted the death of Osama bin Laden but she was one year out – she thought it would happen in 2010 and failed to mention it in last year’s programme. Mark Mardell also had his eye on the Euro and will, no doubt, have something to say about America’s concerns about the global effect of the European crisis in 1012. James Robbins correctly predicted anger against austerity cuts in those countries worst hit but he was wrong about Italy where he thought prime minister ‘Silvio Berlusconi would sail serenely on’.

Join our panel as they polish up their crystal ball and try to identify the key trends in a fast-moving world.

Producer Mark Savage.

download correspondents look ahead

You can download the Correspondents Look Ahead via the BBC’s NewsPod podcast or listen again via the Radio 4 website.

Download the podcast