Make Sure You Don't Miss The "Real Thing" Yule Log Which Will Air This Christmas Morning, Dec. 25th, 2003 From 9am to 1pm
The beloved Yule Log, a favorite New York holiday tradition, will burn twice as long and twice as bright this year. The Log, our video Christmas card to New York, will be seen for four (4) hours this Christmas instead of the traditional two hours. It will be seen from 9 am to 1 pm on Christmas Day.
In addition, the Yule Log sears its way into the 21st Century with a major technological advance: For Christmas 2003 The Yule Log will also be seen in High Definition Television (HI DEF) on WPIX's digital channel, WPIX-DT Channel 12. The Yule Log in HI DEF, as close as TV can be to a real burning fireplace log, will be available to those with HI DEF sets who can receive the WPIX-DT signal. Those with standard TV sets will still be able to see the Yule Log in its traditional format from 9 am to 1 pm on December 25, Christmas Day. Both versions will feature popular Christmas music in high-fidelity stereophonic sound. The HI DEF broadcast of The Yule Log is made possible by Samsung.
The Yule Log, video of a blazing fireplace accompanied by holiday music, was a holiday tradition on Channel 11 from 1966 to 1989. During its hiatus, the many letters and phone calls to Channel 11 requesting its return attested to its undying popularity. The Yule Log has won its time period for WPIX in New York's overnight Nielsen Station Index ratings each year since its return to television.
The Yule Log was the creation of the late Fred Thrower, General Manager of WPIX from 1953 to 1975. "I thought about all the cave dwellers in New York, all the apartments that don't have fireplaces," he remembered in a 1988 interview. "I thought this might be a wonderful way...to let people hear real good Christmas carols and to have their own fireplaces burning."
The first Yule Log was a 17-second film of the fireplace at Gracie Mansion, residence of New York's mayor, shot when John Lindsay was in office. The film was looped to fill a two-hour broadcast. It was re-shot a number of times, always with care that the fireplace should resemble the original at Gracie Mansion. To bring The Yule Log back to TV in 2001, the film was completely remastered using the latest digital technology to give a very sharp picture. The sound track, however, is the original collection of carols that delighted viewers throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s.