It’s almost Christmas—do you know where your “Yule Log” is? Get ready it’s almost time to fire it up again.
Not familiar with “The Yule Log?” It is considered one of the most heartwarming holiday television habits. Basically it’s a picture of a burning log, backed by a soundtrack of Christmas carols.
Many families, including my own, turn it on while we open our Christmas gifts. The Yule log’s inventor created it especially for New Yorkers who lived in apartments without fireplaces. (It’s supposed to conjure up memories of home and hearth.) At one time the Yule log only aired in New York, but now it can be seen burning brightly on TV sets across the country.
Why would you want to have a picture that doesn’t change for hours plastered on your television screen? Well, we keep it on more for the music than the picture, but if you consider that Christmas should be a day that we slow down a bit and set aside time from the chaos of our everyday lives to enjoy family and friends then nothing symbolizes that laid back attitude than a burning log.
This year two stations will be broadcasting “The Yule Log.” The original version will air on New York’s WPIX-TV. While INHD promises to air their version of “The Yule Log” uninterrupted for 24 hours with a high-definition picture so crisp “you’ll be tempted to reach for a poker.”
The original “Yule Log”—the one WPIX will be airing on Christmas morning—is a seven-minute film loop that keeps repeating. Interestingly, after decades of it running on TV in 1989, it was canceled. However, after September 11th, WPIX decided to revive the tradition for a wounded city. Now, according to station executives, “The Yule Log” does very well in the ratings. That’s one of the reasons management decided to restore the show to its original three-hour version for this year’s 40th anniversary.
As for INHD’s version, executives there say they thought “The Yule Log” would be a great way of letting HDTV owners show off their pictures to friends and family during the holidays. INHD’s “Yule Log” will air for 24 hours starting 7 a.m. EST on Christmas. Meanwhile, the WPIX “Yule Log” will air on Tribune Broadcasting stations across the nation, and on the WGN superstation on Christmas morning.
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