'Oasis' Christmas tunes not bad for September

All Christmas music, all the time, continues on KOAY, "The Oasis," at FM-97.5, but the out-of-season format may have more potential than you'd expect.

Meanwhile, the "Movin"' adult-contemporary format on the new KYMV (FM-100.7) is doing a wide angle kind of playlist that makes it very unusual.

I kept the car radio stuck on FM-97.5 a lot last weekend, and no one in my family seemed to mind — except when "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" aired. Otherwise, the low-key, background kind of holiday songs the station mostly plays don't seem all that out of character for September.

Simmons Media, owner of KOAY seems likely to keep the all-holiday format until Jan. 1. After that, the station will probably go with some kind of family-oriented programming.

Other stations have used all-Christmas music out of season in the past as a stunt to gain attention for format changes, focusing on the "jingly" kind of holiday tunes. "The Oasis" approach will likely fare much better.

Alan Hague, Simmons' vice president of operations, is programming KYMV while conducting a search for a permanent program director.

KYMV becomes the third station to adopt the "Movin"' format, following KQMV in Seattle and KZLA in Los Angeles. This format is billed as the first new thing in adult-contemporary in many years.

The "Movin"' name and format was conceived and trademarked by Alan Burns, whose Alan Burns and Associates has been consulting legendary AC and CHR stations since the mid-'80s.

"This format is focused on giving women, 25-44, the rhythmic hits they grew up with, mixed with today's best pop-rhythm," Burns said in a Simmons Media press release. "Every woman we've played this music for has said 'It's great, where can I hear it?' We're proud that today there's an answer to that question in Salt Lake City!"

The "Movin"' format features pop-rhythmic hits from the '70s, '80s, and '90s along with top current hits.

BOB &TOM ON TV —These syndicated morning-radio hosts, heard locally on KBER (FM-101.1), are making the leap to television on Saturday at 7 p.m., on cable's Comedy Central. The appearance will be their "Comedy Tour" special, taped last April, which will also be released on DVD.

Bob Kevioan and Tom Griswold have been providing laugh-out-loud comedy to more than 5 million devoted listeners in their nationally syndicated radio show for more than 10 years. The show is one of the longest-running, highest-rated morning programs in American radio.