My initial recommendation to WPIX for the added fourth hour was to repeat the entire second hour; however, in order to achieve the goal of ending the program with Percy Faith, cherry-picking songs 13-36 turned out to be the best way to go.
    

I preferred seeing the Yule Log on Christmas Eve night. Still, I'm grateful that it's on at all; I missed it during the years it was off the air, and was so glad to see it return.

As I age, little things like this, things that connect me to my past, become very important to me. Too many things have changed--including New York itself.

If it was any other Tribune station, it wouldn't really matter as much because they only serve a local market. However Superstation WGN (or WGN America as they now like to be called) is carried by the majority of cable and satellite providers across the country. So naturally, the impact of this decision is far greater than any other Tribune station. What's worse is that by setting this example, my fear is that it might start a trend and other Tribune stations might follow suit in subsequent years.

Sometimes I think it's a competitive thing: that because the program is a product of New York, other cities inherently feel the need to match it or out do it. Well, with most things -- and especially with the Yule Log -- they can't, and in the process they just end up looking silly.

To me, the evidence of this is in their own words to Susan:

"Instead of a music track that is available everywhere we are going to offer something that has never been done before."

The above statement is utterly ridiculous because like you said Maxine, this music is not available everywhere. In fact, out of the 70 selections on the program, 34 are currently out-of-print, and out of that 34, 12 have never been in print on CD. For our restoration of the Yule Log soundtrack in 2006, we had to pull these 12 songs from their original vinyl records and digitally re-master them ourselves. This was not easy work. I talk about all this in my article on the restoration which is posted on our website. For those who have never read it, here is a link: http://www.theyulelog.com/htmls/news.html

For additional reading, here is a link to NBC News and the Associated Press article on the restoration which I was interviewed for: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16226059/

I strongly encourage everyone to send a message of protest to WGN.


(Post edited on 12/03/08 to add a better link for the Associated Press article on the restoration of the Yule Log)

Armando

Thanks for writing.  I’m, like you, very passionate about the Yule Log however, the WGN America Yule Log doesn’t have the same meaning to most of our viewers that the PIX log does.  We also run the PIX log in all our markets.  In several major markets both logs aired at the same time which is not at all in the best interest of 35% of the country our TV stations overlap with our cable channel.  Our plan is to create a new look with a new soundtrack that showcases old radio theater.  A lot of sensitivities were given to the new look and feel including us finding a 70 year old radio that will also be included.  It will run Christmas Eve through the overnight.  In the morning we’ll be running pre-recorded midnight mass from Chicago and also from St. Pats in New York.  This is to accommodate the audience that wasn’t available to see it late at night.  Hopefully families and adults everywhere will tune into the radio shows and unwrap presents, sit around and enjoy along with going to bed with the TV on listening to these great radio memories from the 40’s. 

Another fact – last year the Yule Log ran on WGN America from 2:30am-5:30am.  The plan this year is to make it a primetime event through the overnight hours.  A total of 9 hours.  In the past WGN seemed to bury it.

Thanks again for writing, I know I’ve upset several people with this decision but it’s a change I feel will generate move viewers and interest vs. music that is available all over radio, tv and ipods.

Sean Compton

I replied back to both Ms. King and Mr. Compton thanking them for writing back and explaining their position.
I also asked them to clarify something for me. In Ms. King's response, she states "Rest assured, they will continue to air this version." Does she mean our Yule Log? and in Mr. Compton's response, he states "The plan this year is to make it a primetime event through the overnight hours. A total of 9 hours." Does this mean that they will air both our Yule Log and theirs? I asked them if our Yule Log will air as well as their version. I know that it would be a considerable expense to air both without commercial interruption, so I asked them to clarify this for me. Hopefully, they will write back again.

I will let everyone know what they say,

Hello Chip!  I emailed you back at Christmastime that I had recently moved from Long Island, New York to here in Upstate New York.  I was very frustrated at the time as I could NOT find the Yule Log being aired here.  I just CAN'T BELIEVE that the Albany, New York area did not get it!  I finally had time today to call Time Warner Cable to inquire further.  ....Even THEY couldn't tell me anything!!!  I am still wondering if you or any of our fellow YuleLoggers might know more about the stations and broadcasts here in the Capital District area of New York.  Do we have any members from this area, do you know; Albany and its suburbs?  Would love to be enlightened and appreciate any help.
...And by the way, CONGRATULATIONS on your new site and ownership!  I look forward to having a consistently up-and-running website.  It looks fantastic!  
      

By the way, I just wanted to point out that the 100% guaranteed uptime I referred to in my group email pertains to the main Yule Log.com website only and does not include the Message Board, which is hosted by Aimoo. While they have come a long way since the conversion debacle in November, 2007, there are still times periodically when Aimoo will be down. However, with their greatly expanded and improved servers, down time has been significantly reduced. Changing hosting companies for the Message Board is not an option I will ever consider, as all the thread and post history that has been accumulated since August, 2005, would be lost.

Nice hearing from you. Hope all is well.