iHeartMedia is celebrating a surge in yuletide digital listening as the company shares its initial results from this year’s Christmas music campaign. iHeart Christmas, an all-digital station, reported sessions up 300% on the iHeartRadio app compared to 2023.
The platform reported nearly 200 million holiday radio listening sessions across phones, laptops, smart speakers, and other devices. Seven of December’s top 10 digital stations were Christmas-themed, including iHeart Christmas, North Pole Radio, iHeart Christmas Classics, and iHeartCountry Christmas.
Listening peaked on Christmas Eve, with 10% more hours logged on digital holiday stations compared to the same day last year.
The New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix markets were the leaders in holiday listening, with Wham’s “Last Christmas” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey taking honors for top holiday tracks of the year, receiving the most “thumbs up” votes on the app.
Across all demographics, iHeart Christmas was the most-added preset on the redesigned iHeartRadio app, followed by North Pole Radio. iHeart launched that app update earlier this month, which represented its most significant redesign since 2011. The revamped app emphasizes radio elements traditionally found in most automobiles – like presets, a scan button, and a live radio dial that mimics tuning.
