Love it or loathe it, Triangle radio listeners are getting twice as much Christmas music this year.

Two local stations this week switched to all-Christmas format, WRAL-FM 101.5 and WRDU-FM 106.1. Last year, WRAL was the only one.

As always, the quest for higher ratings drives the decision, especially with advertisers slashing spending. This is WRAL's third annual switch and last year ratings rose 38 percent among its target demographic, women aged 25 to 54, said program director Barry Fox.

"We lose a few listeners, but we gain many more," Fox said. "We were receiving a lot of calls and e-mails [this year], asking when we were going to start. Then when we made the switch, we got some complaints."

One of the first radio stations to broadcast Rush Limbaugh's talk show, WPTF AM-680, will be losing the conservative media icon after 21 years on the air.

Limbaugh's trademark in-your-face talk show will be moving to a competitor, WRDU FM-106.1, a country music station owned by media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. Starting January 1, WRDU will switch to an all-talk format and feature a 9-hour non-stop marathon of conservative talk by Glenn Beck, Shawn Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Curtis Media, the Raleigh-based company that owns WPTF, will fill the three hours vacated by Limbaugh with political talk that's more centrist and moderate, said president and chief operating officer Phil Zachary. Still, losing Limbaugh is a big deal, he said.

"We were there from the beginning, which makes this more painful," Zachary said. "We were there before Rush was arguably Rush."

Capitol Broadcasting Company and Curtis Media Group announced several changes in the Triangle's radio lineup on Monday which will affect the local sports-talk lineups.

Capitol purchased 620 The Bull and Curtis bought 850 The Buzz, the Triangle's two AM sports-talk format stations, from McClatchey Broadcasting.

A quick reminder: I'm heading out the door to Greensboro to spin records on "The Movie Show" once again. You can listen to the show over at the WUAG Web site. Hope you tune in!

UPDATE: Here's the first hour. Joe says the second hour will be on his site eventually. 

Triangle-area attorney Warren Ballentine, host of the syndicated "Warren Ballentine Show" and the weekday show "Court Radio" on the XM satellite station 169: The Power, is touted as "one of black talk radio's new stars" in a recent New York Times story.

Ballentine's broadcast program airs locally from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. weekdays on WAUG 750 AM.

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