P1 Media Releases America's Top Christmas Songs 2023

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, November 9, 2023

P1 Media Group

P1 Media Group's annual Christmas Music Research is here. The company surveyed radio listeners nationwide likely to listen to an all-Christmas music radio station during the holiday season. It tested the appeal of the 40 most-played and 40 most-streamed Christmas songs from the 2022 Holiday Season, a total of 60 unique songs, thanks to Luminate's holiday charts.

Key Findings:

"Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms is America's #1 research Christmas song, reclaiming the #1 position it has held for six of the last seven years. "Christmas music's appeal remains as strong as ever amongst American radio listeners who listen to All Christmas stations 'frequently' or 'sometimes' and personally enjoy Christmas music on a local radio station during the holiday season," said P1 Media Group Partner and co-founder Ken Benson. "As we often see, there is much to learn when we compare radio airplay to on-demand streaming data, even with holiday music. Understanding streaming data can help broaden the appeal of your station."

• The Holiday Classics rule the Top 20, including two versions of "Jingle Bell Rock," "Holly Jolly Christmas," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

• 2022's #1 Stream and Airplay song "Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You," ranked #26 in total appeal this holiday season, albeit it trails this year's #1 song by less than three percentage points. Mariah's classic ranks #1 with 18-24s.

• This list includes the 16 Christmas songs from the Top 40 most-streamed that didn't make the Top 40 most-played airplay chart. The research suggests that these 16 songs test well enough to be considered for airplay.

• Kelly Clarkson's "Underneath the Tree" from 2010 and Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me" 2014 are the two highest-testing original Christmas songs from the 2000s, ranking #11 and #29, respectively. Both songs scored much higher this year.

• Christmas songs tested considerably higher this year, with 50 of the top 60 Christmas songs testing with an appeal score of 75 or higher on a 100-point scale.

• More say Christmas Music should begin on Thanksgiving last year.
  • 23% Early November
  • 20% Beginning of December
  • 27% Thanksgiving (21% in 2022)
  • 19% mid-November
  • 12% mid-December

• The most surprising finding in the study is that 60% (48% in 2022) say Christmas music programming should stop on New Year's Eve.
  • 13% on December 26th
  • 17% Christmas Day
  • 7% December 27th
  • 3% some other time

1. "Jingle Bell Rock," Bobby Helms (1957) 83.29 (18-54 score)
2. "Holly Jolly Christmas," Burl Ives (1964) 82.56
3. "Feliz Navidad," Jose Feliciano (1970) 82.39
4. "Last Christmas," Wham! (1986) 82.35
5. "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," Brenda Lee (1964) 82.22
6. "Jingle Bells," Frank Sinatra (1957) 82.02
7. "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch," Thurl Ravenscroft (1966) 81.93
8. "Holly Jolly Christmas," Michael Buble (2011) 81.89
9. "The Christmas Song," Nat King Cole (1960) 81.83
10. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Burl Ives (1964) 81.64
11. "Underneath the Tree," Kelly Clarkson (2010) 81.47
12. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," Michael Buble (2011) 81.4
13. "Sleigh Ride," Ronettes (1963) 81.34
14. "Jingle Bell Rock," Brenda Lee (1964) 81.25
15. "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," Gene Autry (1957) 81.2
16. "Santa Claus is Coming To Town," Jackson 5 (1970) 81.12
17. "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas," Perry Como (1951) 80.74
18. "Wonderful Christmastime," Paul McCartney (1979) 80.71
19. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Andy Williams (1963) 80.41
20. "Carol of the Bells," Mannheim Steamroller (1974) 80.33
21. "Linus and Lucy," Vince Guaraldi Trio (1964) 80.15
22. "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," Trans-Siberian Orchestra (1996) 80.11
23. "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas," Bing Crosby (1951) 79.92
24. "Here Comes Santa Claus," Gene Autry (1947) 79.88
25. "Deck the Halls," Nat King Cole (1960) 79.78
26. "All I Want for Christmas," Mariah Carey (1994) 79.6
27. "Sleigh Ride," Leroy Anderson (1948) 79.47
28. "Jingle Bell Rock," Hall & Oates (1983) 79.46
29. "Santa Tell Me," Ariana Grande (2014) 79.33
30. "Winter Wonderland," Amy Grant (1992) 79.21
31. "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas," Michael Buble (2011) 79.21
32. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," Darlene Love (1963) 79.17
33. "Carol of The Bells," David Foster (1993) 79.15
34. "Baby It's Cold Outside," Dean Martin (1953) 79.1
35. "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let it Snow," Dean Martin (1959) 79.03
36. "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas," Johnny Mathis (1986) 78.87
37. "Winter Wonderland," Darlene Love (1963) 78.55
38. "Ring Christmas Bells," Ray Conniff (1962) 78.25
39. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Amy Grant (1992) 78.1
40. "Happy Holiday/The Holiday Seas," Andy Williams (1963) 77.88
41. "Happy Xmas (War is Over)," John Lennon (1971) 77.2
42. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," Jackson 5 (1970) 76.98
43. "Run Rudolph Run," Chuck Berry (1959) 76.82
44. "White Christmas," Bing Crosby (1943) 76.42
45. "Blue Christmas," Elvis Presley (1957) 76.26
46. "Do You Want to Build a Snowman," Kristen Bell (2013) 75.89
47. "Hallelujah," Pentatonix (2016) 75.77
48. "Little Saint Nick," Beach Boys (1964) 75.71
49. "Santa Baby," Eartha Kitt (1953) 75.25
50. "White Christmas," Drifters (1955) 75.16
51. "Snowman," Sia (2021) 74.99
52. "Please Come Home For Christmas," Eagles (1978) 74.57
53. "Christmas Time Is Here," Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965) 73.51
54. "Christmas Canon," Trans-Siberian Orchestra (1998) 73.3
55. "Do They Know It's Christmas," Band Aid (1985) 72.89
56. "Mistletoe," Justin Bieber (2011) 72.67
57. "You Make It Feel Like Christmas," Gwen Stefani (2017) 70.48
58. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," Pentatonix (2017) 69.91
59. "Like It's Christmas," Jonas Brothers (2020) 69.12
60. "Someday at Christmas," Lizzo (2022) 68.16