It may have started already in Seattle (although not on any of the six preset stations in my car so I wouldn't know) but expect some radio stations to switch their formats to playing exclusively ChristmasHoliday music any day now.

If it happens on any of the stations I surf through in my car, I'm guessing it will be KBSG, the oldies station that became "The B 97.3" and changed its format earlier this year to "newer" oldies. This means that I get Santana and Bachman-Turner Overdrive ad nauseum but no Little Richard. Fucking baby boomers.

Anyway, it's already started in Chicago, with a battle between two stations to see who could go to holiday music 24Xmas7 first. WLIT, a Clear Channel station, won and caused rival WCKG to back off on its plan to also go to solely Christm… err, holiday music. From the Chicago Tribune:

Frankly, Darren Davis, Clear Channel Radio Chicago vice president of programming and operations, was pleased.

"Everyone thinks it's a good idea to be the alternative for all those people who don't like Christmas music," Davis said. "But I see the ratings every year that show those people don't exist."

All I know is that I've heard "Silent Night" once this year so far and I'm already sick of it.

Tip of my hat, of course, goes to Idolator.