http://doghousecharlie.com/2010/10/christmas/

***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.

Also please note: Program Notes are arranged by calendar day. For those in North America, Australian programming is up to 16 hours ahead. European broadcasts can be 5 or more hours ahead. One should skim over all the listings for a given day and note any programs they want to hear. Finally, remember some stations listed here have audio archives which extend a week to a month after broadcast. Be sure and check out that aspect. And note any programming you may want to try for next year.

BBC Programming can be accessed for 7 days after broadcast. Go to the appropriate BBC station website, or, go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio then click on the BBC Player. Select the appropriate network from the drop down list, then select the appropriate program title and enjoy!

Fred Waterer

Editor, Programming Spotlight, Monitoring Times

Editor, Programming Matters, Listening In

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will” First words allegedly spoken by Reginald Fessenden during his pioneering radio broadcast on December 24, 1906. If you believe this to be true then Christmas Eve is the birth date of radio broadcasting.

Some stations also had their first broadcast on Christmas Day, including Vatican Radio, HCJB and WHRI.

***

KHJ Radio Performers (Los Angeles) Singing Christmas Songs from 1929

Much of the programming at this time of year is obviously lighthearted, such as Radio Netherlands’ EuroQuest investigation in 2006 of just where Santa lives, Sweden, Norway or Finland; or Living in Germany’s (Deutsche Welle) tour of traditional German Christmas markets. Other programs are more serious, such as Cool’s (Deutsche Welle) look at the plight of homeless kids at Christmas.

Most radio stations in North America will air seasonal music, and some will even broadcast radio programs from days gone by. It’s an opportunity to hear music only heard at this time of the year. Then again, some stations get a jump on the holiday and play Christmas music ad nauseum, as early as October (way too early). Still, I love this time of year, and the musical choices available.

***

Neverending Wonder Radio

FREEFORM MADNESS!
Our regularly irregular playlist ranges from the earliest surviving sound recording to brand new releases from independent artists. You never know WHAT you’ll hear next! Everything from early wax cylinder recordings, experimental composers from the turn of the century, or rare 60′s psychedelia, to classic comedy hijinks, spoken word weirdness, rare experimental electronic music, cheesey moog music, or anything we have a mind to throw in the mix! Our empahasis is on the rare, unusual, hard to find, & offbeat, as well as great new music by independent artists.

December features a lot of off-beat Christmas music.

Check it out at: http://www.neverendingwonder.com

***

Czech Christmas

Everything you ever wanted to know about a Czech Christmas is on the Radio Prague website. Czech it out! (Yeah I know, it’s a bad pun)

http://www.radio.cz/en/static/christmas/index

Radio Sweden’s Christmas Advent Calendar

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=1687283

Swedish Christmas Dinner

Please note, you can also share your experiences about Swedish Christmas dinner, or ask questions about the holiday season in this country, at the bottom of the page, as comments (”kommentera”).

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=1772371

Voice of Russia

2010 strengthened ties between Orthodox Churches

The outgoing year saw a strengthening of the position of the Russian Orthodox Church – and a consolidation of Christian Orthodox churches of the world. One of the important events here was the overcoming of a schism between the Russian and the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.

More at: http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/12/16/37014698.html

Main Russian New Year tree has been cut down

The main New Year tree, which will be set up in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin, has been cut down in the woods near Moscow. This year, the traditional ritual was accompanied by new features. The tree was blessed prior to cutting: an Orthodox priest read a prayer and sprinkled the tree with holy water. Father Frost and his granddaughter Snow Maiden took part in the colourful ceremony of sending the tree from the Klin District tree farm off to Moscow. A bright pyrotechnical show accompanied the presentation of a travel voucher for delivering the New Year tree from the forests around Moscow to the Kremlin.

More at: http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/12/15/36920073.html

Radio National (ABC Australia)

ABC Radio National Summer 2010-2011

Summer is always a time to catch your breath, catch up on all those books, catch up with friends and family and catch up on some of the Radio National highlights of 2010 as well as some new listening treats.

You’ll find details of all Radio National Summer programming here, so come back throughout December and January to see what’s coming up.

From 13 December, Julian Morrow joins the RN Breakfast team while Fran takes a break. You’ll hear news and current affairs from 6am – 7am, AM at 7.05am then Julian from 7.30am – 8.30am.

ABC Radio National Summer is our gift to you. As well as highlights from your favourite Radio National programs, there are treats galore on-air, online and for your MP3 player.

From Sunday 19 December at 2pm, Hindsight and Airplay present a special 8-part series Playing the 20th Century. The series will showcase eight landmark plays, written and performed across the century. Each production will be accompanied by a documentary that explores the work, its author and social and political background in which the play was written.

In a festive explosion of summer listening, Radio National’s audio adventure, The Night Air is taking over evenings from 3 – 21 January, 8pm – 10pm. Night Air Live, presented by Brent Clough, will bring together a jam-packed selection of conversation, information, comedy, classic radio serials , and music – including some of the very best international and local acts touring and playing around Australia.

We’ll present Best of the Festivals each weekday at 11am from 27 December, selecting the best forums, debates and talks from the year.

View or print the 2010–2011 ABC Radio National summer program guide.

BBC Radio Wales

Christmas 2010 on BBC Radio Wales

BBC Radio Wales is your home this Christmas. We’ve got everything you need for the festive period with cracking entertainment, music to get you in the mood and great company.

This year there’s a little bit of extra magic as the stars come back home to Wales – across the festive and new year period you can hear special shows from Charlotte Church, Connie Fisher, Rhod Gilbert and many more.

Plus there will be festive editions of all your favourite programmes, including Roy Noble, Chris Needs, Alan Thompson, Dewi Griffiths and more and we’ll keep you up-to-date with all that’s happening in the world of Welsh sport, including the Welsh Grand National.

More at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/sites/highlights/pages/christmas.shtml

Programming for Christmas:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiowales/programmes/schedules/fm/2010/w51/grid

BBC Radio 2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/programmes/schedules/this_week

Humboldt 101

(We) escalate the Christmas music as the big day approaches. I will have continuous Christmas on the 25th, and concerts by Ray Conniff, Percy Faith and Bert Kaempfert around those days. A Jimmy Jay Christmas special too. (Ken Conlin)

http://www.humboldt101.com/Humboldt_101/Welcome.html

December 12 (Sunday)

Music this Week | 12.12.2010 | 16:55
Frank Sinatra always did it his way

He was the very definition of an entertainer, a singer whose voice captivated millions around the globe: Frank Sinatra. On Dec. 12, 2010, “Ol’ Blue Eyes” would have turned 95.

Born in 1915 to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Francis Albert Sinatra sang for tips in local bars as a teenager. By the age of 25, he was a star. Sinatra won female hearts most of all, the first artist ever to cause mass hysteria. In the 1940s, thousands of girls, then called bobby soxers, would scream or faint seeing Frankie Boy perform on stage. “He was the greatest interpreter of lyrics that ever lived,” said singer Dionne Warwick. “He could sing the telephone book and make you believe it.”

Read more here: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/episode/0,,6212689,00.html

Listen here (for up to 7 days after the broadcast):  http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,4703,00.html

December 15 (Wednesday)

Polish Radio External Service

Convicts give Christmas care to furry friends

15.12.2010 14:54

Prisoners in south-eastern Poland have been helping animal shelters in the region, which are badly in need of materials and other forms of aid, especially in winter time.

http://www.thenews.pl/national/artykul145539_convicts-give-christmas-care-to-furry-friends.html

December 17 (Friday)

December 18 (Saturday)

BBC Radio 7 Sue Perkins’ Christmas Comedy Stocking Pt1

Feel festive with Radio Active, The Masterson Inheritance and Lines From My Grandfather’s Forehead. Plus Tony Hawks’ 12 Days of Christmas and I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Christmas Carol.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jzvz

Theo

Made in Germany in 1908, a rare cinnamon plush bear learns he’s about to be auctioned. Moya O’Shea’s drama stars Martin Jarvis.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jt2n

Randy’s Vinyl Tap CBC Radio One

Here’s what’s on tap for this week – 18 and 19 Dec 2010:

The holiday season is upon us and with it comes a lot of tradition, some stress perhaps and hopefully some good times. It’s a time of year when emotions can run wild and you might feel that if you don’t laugh, you’ll just cry. Well, on this edition of Vinyl Tap Randy Bachman will deal with both as he plays tunes about laughing and crying. Whether you laughing with friends and family or crying about the long line-ups in the mall you can enjoy this collection on performers including Roy Orbison, k d lang, The Guess Who, The Beatles, Sheryl Crow, Frankie Valli, Leslie Gore and many others. Don’t be left crying in the rain, be happy together and tune in to the Tap.

Broadcast Time:
Saturdays at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. AT, 8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio One
CBC Radio 1 Sirius Channel 137 CBC Northern Quebec Shortwave Service 9625 kHz

December 19 (Sunday)

CBC Radio 2

The annual EBU (European Broadcasting Union) “Joy to the World Concert” will air on CBC Radio 2 on Sunday, December 19 at 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST (Live to Maritimes)

http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/index.html

Click the image to go to the Treasure Island Oldies website. The 14th Annual Christmas special can be heard at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern (0200 UTC Dec 20) 4 hours of fabulous Christmas tunes from the Rock and Roll era, hosted by Michael Godin!  Join us in the chatroom (link at website) during the live broadcast. (If you miss the live version this program and probably others will be archived throughout the holiday season.)

BBC Radio Wales – A String of Pearls with Dewi Griffiths

Music from the golden years of entertainment – from the arrival of radio in the early 1920s to the late 50s. Operetta, the fabulous years of Hollywood musicals and the swinging big band era feature.

Dewi Griffiths presents festive songs of yesteryear chosen by listeners.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0079fzn

BBC – Westminster Hour

It’s our last programme of 2010. We’ve got the Guardian’s Nick Watt to reflect on an extraordinary 12 months in British politics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wnyk5 (Available for 7 days afterwards)

December 20 (Monday)

BBC Radio 4

Woman’s Hour, 10.00-10.45am (UK Time)
Phone in about your family’s Christmas traditions and rituals.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb

CKUA (Alberta, Canada) 6pm Mountain 8pm Eastern

SHELLAC SHACK SANTA – ALL CHRISTMAS 78s ON ROY’S RECORD ROOM.

Ho ho ho! This week, the ol’ Shellac Shack Santa pays a visit to The Room with a big, I mean a big , sack full of goodies of the Christmas 78 kind. Tune in for seasonal sides from Lillian Briggs, Enrico Caruso, Wilf Carter & The Calgary Stampeders, Roosevelt Sykes (The Honeydripper), The Spartanburg Famous Four, Ella Fitzgerald, The Hoosier Hot Shots and more.

That’s Monday, December 20, six PM, Mountain time for a visit from the ol’ Shellac Shack Santa – all Christmas 78s on Roy’s Record Room , the show that visits Christmas past to shine a light on Christmas present and Christmas future.

PS: Click here for Roy’s ‘Starter-Kit’ list of ten Christmas CDs you might want to own.

If you’re not in Alberta, you can tune in via the internet. – www.ckua.org
Or, copy and paste this url into your media player – mms://media.ckua.com/ckua3

December 21

BBC Radio 4

Listen to the Word! 8.00-8.40pm, repeated Boxing Day 5.00-5.40pm (UK Time)
Philip Dodd explores what has made Pentecostalism so indispensable in today’s Christianity
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wqcnd

December 22

December 23

December 24

Radio New Zealand National

7pm Wellington Time (1am Eastern Standard Time)

7:06 Christmas Eve with Bryan Crump

Entertainment and information, including:

7:30 The Vault (RNZ)

8:06 Musical Chairs – The Hi-Revving Tongues: Fame and Flares(RNZ)

11pm Wellington Time (5 am Eastern Standard Time)

11:06 Wayne’s Music for Christmas Eve

Two hours of songs for Christmas Eve selected and presented by Wayne Mowat (RNZ)

CBC Radio 1 Christmas Programming:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/pdfs/holiday-sched-r1-2010.pdf

CBC Radio 2 Christmas Programming:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/pdfs/holiday-sched-r2-2010.pdf

Radio Netherlands – Earth Beat

From 1040 UTC (540 AM Eastern)

With the holiday season rapidly approaching we look at some of the more unusual ways in which people party. How hard is it for a vegan to cook Christmas dinner? And should we all be renting our Christmas trees? Earth Beat sees the old year out and the new year in with different takes on festive cheer.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/radioprogramme/earth-beat

BBC Radio 4

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, 3.00-4.30pm (UK time)
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. (Available when live in high-definition sound on our website).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wqgmv

Marley Was Dead, 8.00-9.00pm
By John Nicholson and Richard Katz. Dickens’s A Christmas Carol as you’ve never heard it before.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wqhlv

With Great Pleasure at Christmas, 9.00-10.00pm
Another chance to hear James Naughtie’s 2009 edition. The readers are Alison Steadman and Bill Paterson.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wqhm5

Midnight Mass, 11.30pm-midnight
From the Metropolitan Cathedral of St Chad in Birmingham.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wqhq5

Radio New Zealand National

Saturday, 25 December

6:00 am Wellington Time (12 noon Dec 24 Eastern Standard Time)
Sugar & Spice

Radio New Zealand National’s 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 with a mix of fables and stories old and new, music, festive messages from the rest of the radio crew – those behind the scenes and on the airwaves….and a few surprises!

We’d like your thoughts on what you’d like to hear to get your day off to the right start… Send your ideas to xmas@radionz.co.nz or write to Christmas Morning, Radio New Zealand National, P O Box 123, Wellington.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/highlights/christmas_morning

David Marsden – 94.9 FM The Rock (Oshawa, Ontario) and online

The David Marsden 37th Annual Christmas Eve Special goes Friday December 24 – 7 PM to Midnight EST.

I truly hope everyone will find a place in The Marsden Theater for this event. Live reports with Happy Pants as he travels from the North Pole on the sleigh flying right over your house.

BTW – Happy Pants is the only reporter ever allowed to be in the sleigh with Santa.

Go to http://www.marsdenglobal.com/ and in the GTA at 94.9 FM

CHML 900 Hamilton, Ontario – A Paul Reid Christmas 8pm (Eastern)

Paul Reid Christmas

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

Listen online, on demand and on the radio!

December 25

CBC Radio 2 Christmas Programming:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/pdfs/holiday-sched-r2-2010.pdf

CHML 900 Hamilton, Ontario – A Paul Reid Christmas 4pm (Eastern)

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

Christmas may be over at this point but BBC Radio 7 has two weeks of special programming for the holidays.

Details at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/seasons/newsletter_current.shtml

December 26 (Sunday)

A Christmas Carol
Dickens’ timeless and much-loved Christmas story stars Michael Gough as the miserly money lender, who is given a unique chance to discover the true meaning of Christmas. Also starring Freddie Jones, Danny Schiller, Elizabeth Linsday, Peter Woodthorpe, Robert Edison, Douglas Hodge and Vivian Pickles. Dramatised by Christopher Denys, directed by Janet Whitaker and first heard in 1990.
Sunday 26 ^th December at 10.30am and 8.30pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/programmes/schedules/2010/12/26

December 27 (Monday)

Classic Comedy
Round The Horne
Cinderella
The two Kenneths with the able assistance of Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Douglas Smith, bring us festive fun as they present the story of Cinderella, but not quite as we know it! First heard in 1967.
Monday 27 ^th December at 8am

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Christmas Carol
The team’s thespian talents are revealed as they perform their version of the Dickens classic. They are joined by Stephen Fry, Tony Hawks, Jeremy Hardy, Linda Smith, Sandy Toksvig and Andy Hamilton. First heard in 2003.
Monday 27 ^th December at 12midday and 7pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/programmes/schedules/2010/12/27

December 31 (Friday)

BBC Radio 2

Hamish and Dougal: Hogmanay Special
There’s a second chance this week to hear this special programme, actually on Hogmanay. Hamish and Dougal don their best sporrans and make a visit to the ‘big hoose’. Written by and starring Barry Cryer and Gaeme Garden, with Jeremy Hardy, James Naughtie, Alison Steadman, Humphrey Lyttelton, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toskvig. First broadcast in 2004 and directed by Jon Naismith.
Friday 31 ^st December at 8am, 12midday and 7pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/programmes/schedules/2010/12/31

New Years Programming

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.

January 1 Programs

BBC Radio 2

New Zealand 1100 UTC (6 am EST)

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

Australia – Melbourne 1300 UTC (8 am EST)

Radio AustraliaÂ

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

3AW – Melbourne

Australia – Brisbane 1400 UTC (9 am EST)

Australia – Darwin 1430 UTC (930 am EST)

Australia – Perth 1600 UTC (11 am EST)

Japan – 1500 UTC (10 am EST)

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.

2100 – Midnight in Moscow

2200 – Midnight in Bucharest

2300 – RAI, Rome New Years Broadcast in progress as I post this (10 mins to go)

0000 – RDP International Portugal

0100 – Azores (almost ignored New Year…won’t bother with this one in future)

0200 – Radio Universal, Uruguay

0300 – Radio Nacional, Buenos Aires

0400 – Listened to a pop station in Halifax

0430 – Caracas. Managed to bag a couple of internet stations. Very surreal programming, worth investigating further.

0500 – Extremely wonky webcast from Radio Rebelde, almost like trying to listen through jamming (oh the irony).

0600 – Radio Educacion, Mexico After this one I packed it in…

Shirley Veal and Kathy Fitch were long time hosts of the then Radio RSA (Johannesburg) New Years Eve Phone-In Show…perhaps the first of its kind in the world.

Big Fry’s New Years Rockin Eve on LG73…tune in around 10 pm Eastern Dec 31, at www.lg73.com or hook up with LG73 via iTunes

New Year’s Day

Another annual tradition is the New Year’s Day Concert from Vienna, traditionally heard via Radio Austria International, BBC Radio 3 and PBS in the US. Try around 1015 UTC. In past years, it has been televised on PBS in the afternoon.

Russ Horton’s Mr. Aircheck Radio is the place to go for air checks from days gone by. On New Year’s Eve 2006 he played New Year countdowns from WOR in 1970 and CKLW in 1973. http://www.live365.com/stations/doggone01

January 2 (Sunday)

Goodies

Festive Food from the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/

In 1980 I attended the annual Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, on Warrior’s Day, a day when veterans of past wars are honoured.

There is a parade, the war vets march past, its quite the occasion.

The parade stopped periodically, and this group of vets paused in front of us. The short fellow in front, clearly a World War One vet, whipped out his harmonica and started playing jaunty little tunes.

In my mind I could see him doing this in one of those deplorable WW1 trenches. He played for a few minutes, going through quite the repertoire, much to the delight of his comrades (see the gentleman to his left) and to the crowd in general. We all gave him a rousing ovation.

I have no idea who he is…or rather who he was…27 years on there is only 1 living veteran of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which once numbered 600,000.

He only crossed my path for a few minutes on a hot August day in 1980. But I’ve never forgotten him and always think of him when I read about “The War to End All Wars” or when I pause on Remembrance Day.

Later that day I saw the Scottish World Festival Tattoo. Exhibition Stadium field was packed with massed bands of pipes, drums and military bands. What an awesome experience. The show was topped off with a performance by “The Forces Sweetheart” Dame Vera Lynn. When she sang her signature tunes “Blue Birds Over the White Cliffs of Dover” and “We’ll Meet Again (Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When)” there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

And all around me, people in their 50s and 60s, some with their sweethearts of those days, were teenagers again. The only difference being they no longer faced death in the air, on the sea or on some distant battlefield.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bXGZr-IJJ4]

About a year ago somehow (someone?) deleted almost all the work I had put into this website since 2006. It was particularly disheartening to contemplate having to start all over.

But then I began to look at it another way and treat it as an opportunity to start over with a clean slate, re-organize a few things and maybe build a better mouse trap.

The other complication is that life has a habit of getting in the way of what we enjoy. I just haven’t had a lot of time to invest in this project. But it’s been gnawing at me for a while now. Hopefully with a new laptop which makes me a bit more flexible as to when and where I work, I can restore this website to what it once was, and then make it even better.

Ultimately you are the judge of that.

Your feedback is always welcome, please drop me a line via the contact page of the website.

Cheers!

End of the Year Programming

The Boys are Back in Town

Matinee Idle has returned to the airwaves and internet stream of Radio New Zealand National.

Presented by
Phil O’Brien and
Simon Morris

Email: phil@radionz.co.nz

Text: 2101 (texts cost 20c)
Facebook: I (heart) Matinee Idle
Follow Matinee Idle on Twitter
Phil O’Brien and Simon Morris present an afternoon of music and entertainment, including a Classic Concert.

‘Matinee Idle is Radio New Zealand’s Mufti Day. They let me and Simon “loose in the asylum”. We get to be the guys testing the outer limits of listener patience and we benignly abuse this privilege.’ says O’Brien. ‘They let us play whatever we want! It’s every radio presenter’s dream.’

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

Phil O’Brien, Simon Morris and Kelle Howson in the Matinee Idle studio in Wellington:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LVGQQjglcg

The Sequel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GPfyKbVgzE

Recorded live in Christchurch on January 23rd – a hell of a way to finish another Matinee Idle season….

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

***

New Years ProgrammingÂ

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.

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

New Zealand 1100 UTC (6 am EST)

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

Australia – Melbourne 1300 UTC (8 am EST)

Radio AustraliaÂ

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

3AW – Melbourne

Australia – Brisbane 1400 UTC (9 am EST)

Australia – Darwin 1430 UTC (930 am EST)

Australia – Perth 1600 UTC (11 am EST)

Woodford is a town in the hills behind Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. And every year it becomes a place of music, stories, dance and with it comes a rich and diverse community.

Keep your eye on this webpage throughout the festival as the ABC Local Radio team posts updates and photos throughout the event.

Also, celebrate New Year’s Eve by tuning in to our live broadcast from the festival.

Annie Gaffney will be beaming the wonderful sounds and extravagance of Woodford right around Australia from 6pm on the ABC Local Radio network and online.

The festival is an extravaganza of performance which includes song, dance, ceremony, ritual, circus, comedy, film, poetry, vaudeville, visual arts, workshops, forums, debates, folklore and spectacular street theatre.

Amelia Dickenson-Jones is one of many festivalgoers raving about the event.

Amelia says she’s found the perfect formula for a great day at Woodford.

“A yoga session in the morning + good music all through the day + good company + diversity of entertainment and people + endless creativity = happiness,” she says.

“All of those elements can be found here at this wonderful festival which, to me, rates an A to the power of infinity. And that’s why I am so happy here.”

Adam Guise has been visiting Woodford on and off for about 10 years.

He says he’s seen it grow in stature and excellence over those years.

“It is a sophisticated, well-run, professional festival but still retaining its heritage.

“It has a brilliant, loving, caring atmosphere that is not only wonderful for families and children but also for party animals who are looking for a chance to dance and burn off some energy.”

The festival kicked off Sunday morning at the Muse venue, when a full-house turned out to the first breakfast gig as entertainer Martin Pearson unleashed his wackiness and wit.

The entertainment continued with performances by Paul Dempsey, Lisa Mitchell, The Panics, Vince Jones, Tulca Mor, the Middle East, Graeme Connors, Kerry O’Brien in Kerry and the Couch, Ember Swift, Men Wot Sing, Dubmarine, Kilimanjaro, The Red Eyes, Afro Dizzi Act, Red Bantoo and comedians at the Woodford Comedy Club.

Festival highlights for Monday included Doc Span Blues, Timbah, John Butler Trio, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Vince Jones, The Medics, Street Warriors, Red Bantoo, Kerry and the Couch featuring former prime minister Bob Hawke, The Great Green Debate, Deep Blue Orchestra, Miguel, The Middle East, The Audreys, Bonjah, The Red-Eyes and The Panics.

Yesterday (Tuesday) audiences were treated by Ember Swift, Mr Percival, Rich and Famous, Graeme Connors, Angie Hart, The Borderers, Juke Baritone and the Swamp Dogs, Bonjah, Miguel, The Audreys, Chocolate Strings, Red Bantoo, The Rooftops, The Perch Creek Family Jugband, Vince Jones, James Blundell, John Butler Trio, Kaki King, Dallas Frasca and Afro Dizzi Act.

Today (Wednesday) the festivities continue with Xenos, The Delta Monarchs, Jim Conway’s Big Wheel, The Sins, Timothy Carroll, The Poets Brawl, Rapskallion, Deep Blue Orchestra, The Audreys, Olmecha Supreme, Miguel, Tripod, Rich and Famous, John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew, Martin Pearson, Chocolate Strings, Ganga Girl, Dubmarine, Merri_May Gill, The Borderers, James Blundell, Toni Childs, The Mojo Webb Band, The Red-Eyes and Band of Frequencies.

There’s also a full program of international dance acts at the Folklorica venue, circus acts galore at the Palace, and some environmental brainstorming at the Greenhouse.

For more information on all of this year’s acts, attractions and activities visit the festival website.

You can also read updates on ABC Sunshine Coast’s twitter page.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2009/12/30/2782906.htm?site=sunshine

Japan – 1500 UTC (10 am EST)

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.

Happy Station New Years Show from Hong Kong 1600 UTC (11 am EST)

“Let me fill you in the loop as they say. On December 31, 2009 both editions of Happy Station will be 2 hours each.

“The transmission at 0200UTC will be a special program for South America and the Caribbean and will run for 2 hours. Details are still being worked on at this moment. I will fill you in when they become available. This program will be recorded.

“The transmission at 1600UTC will be LIVE from Hong Kong. My friends at RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong) are giving us a studio over looking Victoria Harbor where at 1659UTC we will do the countdown to 2010. They are also letting us patch into the audio feeds for RTHK, so you will be able to hear the countdown live as it happens in Hong Kong. After the countdown, …a small concert of the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra…” (Keith Perron)

0200 to 0255UTC South America & Southern USA
Frequency: 9955khz, 31 meters
1600 to 165UTC North America/Caribbean
Frequency: 9955khz, 31 meters
0700 to 0855UTC West Coast North America
Frequency: 9955khz, 31 meters
Live steam can also be heard at www.wrmi.net

2100 – Midnight in Moscow

2200 – Midnight in Bucharest

2300 – RAI, Rome New Years Broadcast in progress as I post this (10 mins to go)

0000 – RDP International Portugal

0100 – Azores (almost ignored New Year…won’t bother with this one in future)

0200 – Radio Universal, Uruguay

0300 – Radio Nacional, Buenos Aires

0400 – Listened to a pop station in Halifax

0430 – Caracas. Managed to bag a couple of internet stations. Very surreal programming, worth investigating further.

0500 – Extremely wonky webcast from Radio Rebelde, almost like trying to listen through jamming (oh the irony).

0600 – Radio Educacion, Mexico After this one I packed it in…

Honda New Years Trackerhttp://world.honda.com/link/

Shirley Veal and Kathy Fitch were long time hosts of the then Radio RSA (Johannesburg) New Years Eve Phone-In Show…perhaps the first of its kind in the world.

Big Fry’s New Years Rockin Eve on LG73…tune in around 10 pm Eastern Dec 31, at www.lg73.com or hook up with LG73 via iTunes

New Year’s Day

Another annual tradition is the New Year’s Day Concert from Vienna, traditionally heard via Radio Austria International, BBC Radio 3 and PBS in the US. Try around 1015 UTC. In past years, it has been televised on PBS in the afternoon.

Russ Horton’s Mr. Aircheck Radio is the place to go for air checks from days gone by. On New Year’s Eve 2006 he played New Year countdowns from WOR in 1970 and CKLW in 1973. http://www.live365.com/stations/doggone01

January

Orthodox Christmas takes place in January (the 6th). Some of the stations from Orthodox countries will celebrate Christmas with “us” in December, then do it all again in January. The Orthodox hymns from Russia, Kiev, Bulgaria, Serbia and others are breathtakingly beautiful.

This site will be updated several times a day on the 24th, 25th and 26th. Check back often.

Previous Years:

Seasonal Programs 2007

Seasonal Programs 2008

I would appreciate your comments, criticisms, suggestions, corrections and additions to this survey. 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 Channukah, New Years’ Eve and New Years’ Day.

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

Also please note: Program Notes are (loosely) arranged by calendar day. For those in North America, Australian programming is up to 16 hours ahead. European broadcasts can be 5 or more hours ahead. Also note that programming is presented by station not by time order. One should skim over all the listings for a given day and note any programs they want to hear. Finally, remember some stations listed here have audio archives which extend a week to a month after broadcast. Be sure and check out that aspect. And note any programming you may want to try for next year.

BBC Programming can be accessed for 7 days after broadcast. Go to the appropriate BBC station website, or, go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio then click on the BBC Player. Select the appropriate network from the drop down list, then select the appropriate program title and enjoy!

Fred Waterer

Editor, Programming Spotlight, Monitoring Times

Editor, Programming Matters, Listening In

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will” – First words spoken by Reginald Fessenden during his pioneering radio broadcast on December 24, 1906

***

From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Archive:

Much Ado About Christmas: Toys, Traditions and Holiday Fun

Toys, leftover fruitcake, department store Santas, toy store mobs, last minute shoppers, enormous light displays and faith restored — it’s all part of the rich tradition of Christmas. Over the years, CBC Radio and Television have documented the spiritual and material aspects of the ever-evolving Christmas holiday. ‘Tis the joyous, and sometimes maddening, season of giving.

12 Radio Clips, 10 TV clips

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-412/life_society/christmas_fun/

***

Neverending Wonder Radio

Holiday Music Now In the Mix!
HOLIDAY MUSIC SCHEDULE:
(All scheduled programs will continue to air)
6 AM – 6 PM PACIFIC: Joining our regularly irregular mix of music will be non-traditional type holiday music. A freeform mix of comedy Christmas tunes, punk, swing, alternative, rock, reggae, electronic, anti-Christmas, Hannukah & Solstice music.
6 PM – 6 AM PACIFIC: Joining our regularly irregular mix of music will be traditional sounding Christmas music- acoustic, folk and international, Hannukah, classical, Solstice, winter themed songs, as well as favorites by Judy Garland, Bing, Frank and others.
DECEMBER 20 – DECEMBER 26:
ALL HOLIDAY MUSIC!
6AM-6PM PACIFIC TIME: Non-traditional type holiday music. A freeform mix of comedy Christmas tunes, punk, swing, alternative, rock, reggae, electronic, anti-Christmas, Hannukah & Solstice music.
6PM-6AM: Traditional sounding Christmas music- acoustic, folk and international, Hannukah, classical, Solstice, winter themed songs, as well as favorites by Judy Garland, Bing, Frank and others.

http://www.neverendingwonder.com/

Neverendingwonder Radio is an internet radio station operated by my friend, “Uncle Ozma” in Portland, Oregon

***

The Radio Times is the BBC’s radio and television listings magazine, first published on 28 September 1923, around ten months after the BBC began broadcasting. From March 1991 it began carrying listings for commercial channels. Here is a page showing Christmas covers through the years. (I found the wartime ones interesting…Santa was “on our side “
http://www.tvradiobits.co.uk/radiotimes/christmas.htm

***

Speaking of wartime, here’s a neat item from the CBC Archives online:

King George VI’s Christmas message of 1939

Christmas is a time of light and celebration. But darkness is all around on Dec. 25, 1939, as citizens of the British Empire face another world war. Amid the gloom, King George VI resurrects a tradition his father launched: an annual Christmas message to all inhabitants of the Empire. In this excerpt from his speech, broadcast in Canada by the CBC, the King says the Empire shall remain undaunted in the face of war.

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-1966-12704-10/life_society/twt/

KHJ Radio Performers (Los Angeles) Singing Christmas Songs from 1929Much of the programming at this time of year is obviously lighthearted, such as Radio Netherlands’ EuroQuest “investigation” in 2006 of just where Santa lives, Sweden, Norway or Finland; or Living in Germany’s (Deutsche Welle) tour of traditional German Christmas markets. Other programs are more serious, such as Cool’s (Deutsche Welle) look at the plight of homeless kids at Christmas.

Most radio stations in North America will air seasonal music, and some will even broadcast radio programs from days gone by. It’s an opportunity to hear music only heard at this time of the year. Then again, some stations get a jump on the holiday and play Christmas music ad nauseum, as early as October (way too early). Still, I love this time of year, and the musical choices available.

Radio Prague Christmas contest rules

Have you ever managed to take a Christmas photo which really captured that one-of-a-kind yuletide atmosphere? Share your memories with us, go through your family albums and send us one of your old Christmas photographs affixed to a short story. We will select 10 of the most interesting photos and reward them with small prizes.Photos sent electronically must be .jpg format and should be between 100 kB and 2MB in size.

Send us your Christmas pictures by no later than December 31, 2009.either by email to cr@radio.cz or by post toCzech Radio 7 – Radio Prague
Vinohradská 12
120 99 Praha 2
Czech Republic

The photos you send will be published on the Radio Prague website.

We will be releasing the results of the contest the week after it finishes.

Merry Christmas!

***

From Glenn Hauser:

My annual compendium of special holiday programming pages from webcasting US public radio stations (and a few commercial classical) is now partly complete:

http://worldofradio.com/calendar.html#holiday

Enjoy, Glenn Hauser

***

BBC Radio 4

The Today team has also made an Advent Calendar, each door concealing a different piece of audio from the last 12 months, with a rather fetching turkey to illustrate the feature: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7749000/7749926.stm

And, as every year, you listeners have responded magnificently to the Radio 4 St-Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal, so very many thanks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p71gw

(Radio 4 Newsletter)

BBC Radio 7

Next week our Christmas schedule will be unwrapped, which includes some Charles Dickens’ perennial favourites beginning with The Pickwick Papers, then A Christmas Carol in Christmas week, and his ghost story The Signal Man.

Christmas Classic comedy kicks off with two seasonal comedies which are over 50 years old, but have certainly stood the test of time: Hancock’s Bill and Father Christmas and from the Goons, The International Christmas Pudding.

And in the Comedy Club, our seasonal offerings include Christmas Specials from The Masterson Inheritance and The Shuttleworths.(BBC 7 Newsletter)

***

Paul Reid Christmas – AM 900 CHML, Hamilton, Ontario

Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, family traditions abound here, at AM900 CHML, our tradition includes sharing a Paul Reid Christmas with you.

Listen December 24 from 8pm-10pm, and December 25 4pm-6pm.

Gather friends and family ‘round the radio, as we air the timeless Christmas special hosted by the legendary Paul Reid. It’s the magic of the season, as only Paul Reid can deliver. Don’t miss a Paul Reid Christmas, presented by Wesley Urban Ministries, a holiday Tradition of AM900CHML!

Can’t wait until December 24? The audio is online at:

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

***

Treasure Island Oldies

Â

The Treasure Island Oldies Christmas Special, will go out December 20 at 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific (0200 UTC Dec 21). 4 hours of Christmas music with a rock and roll beat.

***

Christmas 2009 at the Moose Jaw WDMShortwave to Santa
Time: 10am to 3pm.
The Moose Jaw Amateur Radio Club will be on site to help you speak to Santa at the North Pole via Shortwave to Santa.

(I’ve been to the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon…if you ever get the chance, check them out!)

http://www.wdm.ca/whatsnew/mj_christmas.html

Deutsche Welle

Living in Germany
_______________

14.12. – Living in Germany: A German tradition: Christmas markets

While many people spend the weeks before Christmas elbowing their way
through the hustle and bustle of crowded shops in an attempt to find gifts
for loved ones, Germans take time out for some festive fun with a very
long-standing holiday tradition – Christmas markets. This week Living in
Germany takes a tour through the German “Weihnachtsmarkt.”

The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=ew2zfvIf6ketyI1

Living in Germany audio available for 7 days from broadcast.

***

BBC WS Christmas links for learners of English

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1317_xmas08/

Includes a pantomime, talking about Christmas, ….London…. life, The Flatmates, quiz and other festive mp3s (via Clara Listensprechen, dxld yahoo group)

***

Australian Broadcasting Corporation seasonal fare

Season’s greetings
Welcome to the final ABC Radio National Newsletter for 2009. We’ll return to your inbox on 20 January 2010. Season’s greetings and thanks to all of you for your interest and engagement with us – on-air and online.

Bush Telegraph on the road
Bush Telegraph travels to Victoria’s Traralgon South on Thursday 17 December to talk to farmers, townspeople, musicians and artists about their road back to recovery following the February bushfires. If you’re nearby, join them at the Community Recovery Centre or tune in on-air, full details here .

Radio National Summer
From 21 December to 24 January (inclusive), check out what’s on-air at our Radio National Summer site.

Here are some treats that will be new to your ears:

* Fran Kelly is off to the beach and James Carleton fills the Radio National Summer Breakfast (weekdays 7am – 8am) deckchair from 21 December, through to Fran’s return on 27 January.

* Beachpods : Take Radio National with you on holidays. Here’s a selection of downloadable programs from the archives of our documentary programs. Full details are here .

* 21 December, 3pm – Into The Music presents the 11th Peggy Glanville-Hicks Lecture – Unequivocally Abused: the paradox of music and composers , delivered by Robyn Archer.

* From 24 December – each Thursday at midday, tune in to The Still Point , a series of four episodes exploring mindfulness. It plays a central role in Buddhist teachings, but Buddhist Mindfulness techniques are increasingly being adapted in the west for use across domains including health sciences, education, social activism, and the arts.

* 25 December, 8.30am – If you’re hiding under the covers wishing the festivities were over, never fear, there are alternatives out there MovieTime ‘s Jason and Ruth deliver their judgment on titles like The Lovely Bones and Sherlock Holmes .

* 25 December, 6pm – The National Interest features Drawing the Line , a forum about political cartooning hosted by Peter Mares and recorded at the State Library of Victoria.

* From 27 December, 5pm РBig Ideas Summer of Science , featuring discussions from Caf̩ Scientific and the Australian Science Festival.

* 28 December – 1 January – We showcase five of the very best episodes of This American Life .

* From 30 December Airplay premieres The Flickerman , an interactive radio drama following the mysterious events that have turned Cornelius Zane-Grey’s life upside down. The fourth episode of the series will be written based upon audience contributions gathered online at The Flickerman’s Pool website

***

Here’s what’s on Randy’s Vinyl Tap for 19 & 20 Dec 09…

This week on Vinyl Tap Randy Bachman is ho-ho-home for the holidays. Because gift boxes are blocking the door to the vault he goes under the tree and finds a big red sack filled with holiday favourites. The potpourri playlist includes jingles from Paul McCartney, The Pogues, The Eagles, Diana Krall, Stevie Wonder, The Medieval Babes and many others. And to add to the festive mood, Randy will reminisce about some of the Christmases he has spent at home and away as one of the hardest working musicians in Canada. Deck the halls and tune in to The Tap.

** Note: some suggested tunes would be “Merry Christmas Baby” – The Beach Boys. “Jingle Bells” – Diana Krall. “Jesous Ahatonhia” – Bruce Cockburn

Broadcast Time:
Saturdays at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. AT, 8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio One
CBC Radio 1 Sirius Channel 137

***

CHRISTMAS EDITION OF APPLAUSE 4-6 P.M. SATURDAY Dec. 19^TH from ZOOMER RADIO, AM 740

Part One

Selections from Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” 2009 starring Jim Carey with music by Alan Silvestri: “Main Theme”; “Flight to Fessiwigs”; “First Waltz”; “Ride On My Good Man”; “God Bless Us Everyone” sung by Andrea Bocelli – Walt Disney

Selections from 1992 film “The Muppet Christmas Carol” featuring the Muppets and Michael Caine as Scrooge with music and lyrics by Paul Williams: “One More Sleep ’til Christmas”; “Room In Your Heart”; “Thankful Heart” sung by Michael Caine; “It Feels Like Christmas” – Walt Disney

Selections from 1999 original cast recording of the Nunsense Christmas musical “Nunsense” written by Dan Googin: “Christmas Time is Nunsense Time”; “Twelve Days Prior to Christmas”; “The Christmas Box”; “A Carnival Christmas” – DRG

Selections from “The Polar Express” with music by Alan Silvestri: “Spirit Of The Season”; “When Christmas Comes To Town”; “Believe” sung by Josh Groban – Warner Sunset

Part Two

A Canadian classic: Rich Little’s “Christmas Carol” -featuring Rich recreating this Christmas story with an all-star cast with impressions of WC Fields, George Burns, John Wayne, Richard Nixon, Paul Lynde, Laurel & Hardy, Johnny Carson, Jack Benny, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Columbo, plus many others.

Enjoy! A very Merry Christmas to you and your family and all the Best for 2010,

Michael

Michael Englebert
APPLAUSE – Zoomer Radio AM 740
michael@radioapplause.com
www.radioapplause.com

(4-6pm Eastern Standard Time)

***

ABC Radio National
360 newsletter
18 -26 December

Homepage
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/360/

Contact
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/360/contact/

On 360 this week

Saturday December 19 – 2.00pm
(Repeat December 23 – 1.00pm)

CHRISTMAS IN CUBA

URL: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/360/stories/2009/2753175.htm

Come and join us in a long food queue, followed by a conga line of dancers for Christmas in Cuba, where there’s plenty of roast pork at fiestas but most of the good bits are missing. We’ll spend time with locals including Yoani Sánchez, an eloquent blogger without legal access to the internet. Last year Time Magazine called her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

***

CBC Radio, Weekend of Dec 19-20

Sat Dec 19 – Quirks and Quarks

The Quirks Holiday Book Show

What do seahorses, polar photography and Wernher von Braun all have in common? Not much actually. But they are all subjects of new science books, featured on this year’s Holiday Book Show. First up is a fascinating look at one of nature’s most exotic creatures, the seahorse – subject of mythology, object of offbeat medical cures, practitioners of bizarre sex (where the males experience childbirth), and now an endangered species. Next is a stunning collection of polar pictures by Canadian wildlife photographer, Paul Nicklen, who has chronicled the lives of every animal living in the Arctic and Antarctic regions – many of them taken underwater, below the polar ice. He’ll tell us how a sea lion tried to feed him a penguin. And finally, a new biography of Wernher von Braun, the German scientist who helped the Nazis develop the V-2 rockets that rained down on London during WW2, and was then recruited by the United States for their own rocket program.

Plus – much more.

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/

Sat Dec 19 – Santa & Home Theatres

Posted by The Debaters on December 03 at 05:40 PM

To most kids, Christmas is all about Santa. But, is this rotund spreader of consumerism actually good for kids? This week, our surrogate scrooge, Kevin Foxx is out to prove to funny lady Mrs. Gupta (Veena Sood) that Santa is a bad role model. Next up on our double bill of laughs and logic, Vancouver comic Graham Clark wants movie critic and comedian Patrick Maliha [mah-LEE-ha] to admit that when it comes to the cinema experience, Home Theatre beats Movie Theatre every time. As usual The Debaters is a stocking stuffed with comedy treats — some of them naughty, some of them nice, but all of them funny. Gather ‘round your flat screen radio and tune in Saturday at 1:00 pm on Radio One.

http://www.cbc.ca/thedebaters/

Dec. 19: Feeling Homesick

Will you be home for the holidays? If not, how do you fight homesickness? We’ll get a range of answers this Saturday on DNTO.

http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/

Saturday Night Blues

Saturdays at 6pm on CBC Radio Two.
9:00 p.m. (10:30 NT) on CBC Radio One
cbc.ca/radio.

The annual Christmas Card Contest is underway.
Send us a holiday greeting card through the good old fashioned postal system and we will put your name into the draw for a Saturday Night Blues prize package.

Address:
SNB
Box 555
Edmonton AB, T5J 2P4

We wish bluesy holidays to all our fans around the world.

http://www.cbc.ca/snb/

Coming up on…
The Sunday Edition for December 20th, 2009

Three necessary ingredients of any Christmas event are music, magic and memory. And this morning we offer all three in abundance.

In our FIRST hour, Robert Harris drops in with his take on Christmas music, a passion he picked up singing carols in a department store bargain basement.

In our MIDDLE hour, producer Jean Dalrymple celebrates the magic and the joy of The Wizard of Oz. The movie is 70 years old and has lost none of its luster.

And in our Final hour, Newfoundland writer and broadcaster Marjorie Doyle carries on a Christmas tradition she has done for years.

Plus every kid’s grade school Christmas concert. And a town of great music to make you Yule merry and bright.

http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/

The Vinyl Cafe Dec 20 2009

“Christmas at the Turlingtons”

Today is our annual Christmas studio show:

We play some of our favourite Christmas tunes and tell the story about the time Dave and Morley spent Christmas at the Turlingtons.

Tapestry

Sunday, December 20 & Thursday, December 24
Unto Us A Child and Rick Phillips: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio

Rita and Les Peters are Canadian missionaries who live in the village of Tactic, Guatemala. They have raised five children, and were looking forward to taking life a little easier. Then one night, Rita got a call from the local fire department. A new-born baby, carefully wrapped in a blanket and placed inside a cardboard box, had been found on the steps of the church. A note was pinned to the box.. asking whoever found it, to bring the baby to Rita.

Also… Rick Phillips of Sound Advice drops by with an app reciation of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Originally written in six parts, one for each of the six days of Christmas, the music tells the Christmas story with celebration and mystery, and a hint of what’s to come. You’ll hear Rick’s explanation of how Bach came to write the Oratorio and what to listen for as we play excerpts from many of its great pieces, including the joyful opening chorus, Jauchzet Frohlocket (Rejoice, Exult).

(Mary Hynes has a special place in her heart for the opening chorus; in fact, she walked down the aisle to it!)

http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/

***

BBC Radio 7 Programming Highlights

http://www.doghousecharlie.com/bbc-radio-7-seasonal-programs/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/seasons/newsletter_current.shtml

***

BBC Radio 4 Programming Highlights

Christmas Programming

***

BBC Radio 2 “Festive Highlights”

Holiday Programming

***

18.12. – German retailers look forward to last-minute Christmas trade

If it weren’t for the holiday shopping season, many retailers would have to
close their doors. Stores are often stuck in the red until December. It’s
not until Christmas that they finally break through the profit barrier. But
how generous will shoppers be when buying presents this year given the
global financial crisis?

The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=ew32brIf6ketyI2

—————

18.12. – German Christmas markets prove popular in Britain

Each year thousands of British tourists travel to Germany just to visit the
famous Christmas markets in cities like Dresden, Nuremberg or Cologne. For
those who can’t make the trip over – they needn’t worry: German Christmas
markets increasingly come to them. This year there are three in London
alone. But just how German is “German”?

The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=ew32brIf6ketyI3

***

A Christmas Eve Treat from Alan Maitland

The holiday season just wouldn’t be the same without Alan Maitland’s reading of “The Shepherd” – and longstanding CBC Radio tradition.

Generations of listeners have tuned in to hear Frederick Forsyth’s tale of an RAF pilot, who on Christmas Eve, struggles on his flight home over the North Sea.

So gather with friends and family for Maitland’s special reading of “The Shepherd” on As It Happens, Thursday, December 24th at 6:30 pm (7:00 NT) on CBC Radio One.

***

The Marsbar Theatre Christmas Tradition

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Marsden presents his annual Christmas Eve extravaganza, 7pm -Midnight. Listen to the program and join the chatroom at David’s website (I’ll be in the chatroom using the handle “Shadowsbud”).

***
Big Fry’s Big Hits 10pm-1am Eastern Time Christmas Eve

http://www.lg73.com

***

EWTN -TVÂ /Â WEWN – Shortwave