The only way that you haven't heard talk of the holiday season staple "Baby, It's Cold Outside" would be if you've been living under a festively decorated rock these last few days.

If you've spent any time on social media in the last week or so, you've probably seen headlines like the one posted by a media outlet right here in New Jersey, as a Garden State TV station proclaimed, ‘Me Too’ era: Radio stations removing "Baby It's Cold Outside"

As much as I hate to say this because the media as a whole really is unfairly demonized on a regular basis these days, but that's a misleading headline.

It's not Fake News or untrue, but it kind of dances around the edges of full disclosure.

The whole thing started when one radio station, a Cleveland FM that's flipped to all-Christmas music for the season, polled their audience about their feelings on the song and decided to remove it from their playlist.

Now, if one were to actually click through to the aforementioned story, you'd notice that they only mention the one Ohio radio station.

But let's be honest, how many people actually click through and read a story these days when the headline seems to tell the whole story?

There have been a few who have followed suit, but there is by no means a 2018 War On BICO (feel free to use that if you like).

And honestly, that's fine either way.

The best radio programmers in the business have one vitally important quality in common - they listen to their audience.

While the audiences in Cleveland and San Francisco (the two markets in the examples above) may find the song in poor taste, listeners in, say, Milwaukee and San Jose may not see it through the same lens.

So where do we stand?

Well, that's up to you, our audience.

In my 10+ years as WOBM's Music Director, I can honestly tell you that I've never gotten a single complaint about "Baby, It's Cold Outside". 

Whether it's Dean Martin & Martina McBride or Michael Buble & Idina Menzel, just two of the versions that we play this time of year, the phones have remained silent when we spin the record.

If I'm being honest, on a personal level I've always thought that the song is a bit icky, but it's not my job to program this radio station for my personal tastes.

We have always taken pride in being Ocean County's Hometown Station (for over 50 years now), and the most important part of that is listening to you. If you have concerns, comments, or even compliments about what you're hearing on 92.7 WOBM, I invite you to reach out to me personally.

In the meantime, I'll continue to encourage everyone to look beyond a controversially worded headline. A collection of words that'll kick off a firestorm on social media are usually chosen for exactly that reason.

 

 

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of 92.7 WOBM, Townsquare Media, its employees, or advertisers.

 

 

 

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