Brace yourself for nonstop Christmas music

Ready or not, here come the Christmas carols.

Chicago radio station 93.9 My FM will begin playing Christmas music exclusively as of 4:35 p.m. Tuesday. Believe it or not, this isn’t the earliest date for launching the holiday musical roundup; the earliest was Nov. 2 in 2006 and 2007, according to WGN TV.

In St. Louis, some radio stations have designated themselves as Christmas spirit central, including KEZK 102.5 and KLOU 103.3.

In years past, KEZK has dubbed itself “St. Louis’ Christmas Station,” and has launched its all-Christmas playlist in mid-November. No official announcement could be found as of Monday, however.

KLOU is running a countdown contest, challenging readers to guess what day and time they will flip the switch to all holiday music, all the time? “Will it be tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve?” No one’s betting on Christmas Eve, but the closest guess wins a $100 gift card. Last year, KLOU launched its round-the-clock merriment Nov. 11.

And if movies are more your thing, Freeform has announced its “25 Days of Christmas” schedule, available locally on Charter’s channel 50 or HD 723, or on AT&T/Uverse’s channel 178 or HD 1178. Movies will include “Elf,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “The Polar Express,” “The Santa Clause,” “Four Christmases,” “Frozen” and many others. The daily showings begin Dec. 1.

A previous version of this story misidentified the call letters for Hot 104.1, which are now WHHL. The News-Democrat regrets the error.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Brace yourself for nonstop Christmas music."