It's a Race to Yuletime Music

From today's Chicago Tribune

Clear Channel's adult-contemporary outlet WLIT-FM 93.9, which appeared poised to begin its annual tradition of airing weeks of Christmas music on Nov. 9, instead made the switch this morning, presumably to counter CBS Radio's WCKG-FM 105.9's plan to launch into Christmas programming later in the day.

Word began leaking out Thursday that WCKG, which has been airing nothing but Jack FM-bound Steve Dahl since Monday as a prelude to a format change, would move to Christmas music after Dahl's final shift on the station en route to mornings on CBS sister station WJMK-FM 104.3, beginning at 5:30 a.m. this Monday.

For WCKG, the switch to holiday songs, more than seven weeks before Santa is set to make his deliveries, would serve a dual purpose. It not only is meant to cleanse palates from the FM talk to which WCKG listeners have become accustomed, it's also intended as a shot across the bow of WLIT.

It's madness