Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists, writers, and weavers of folklore. Moviemakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptations of literary classics and new stories. Radio and television have also aggressively pursued entertainment and ratings through their cultivation of Christmas themes.

Christmas movies and videos

Many Christmas stories have been adapted to movies and TV specials, and have been broadcast and repeated many times on TV. Since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, their many editions are sold and re-sold every year during the holiday shopping season. Notable examples are the film It's a Wonderful Life, and the similarly themed film versions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge is an elderly miser who is visited by ghosts and learns the errors of his ways. The hero of the former, George Bailey, is a businessman who sacrificed his dreams to help his community. On Christmas Eve, a guardian angel finds him in despair and prevents him from committing suicide, by magically showing him how much he meant to the world around him. Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... A Television Special is a television program that is essentially a television movie or a short film usually intended to be broadcast sporadically, typically once a year at most. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Its a Wonderful Life is a 1946 Frank Capra film, produced by his own Liberty Films, and released originally by RKO Radio Pictures. ... A Christmas Carol frontpiece, first edition 1843. ... Ebenezer Scrooge encounters Ignorance and Want in A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. ...

A few true stories have become enduring Christmas tales themselves. The story behind the Christmas carol "Silent Night" and the story of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" are among the most well-known of these true tales of Christmas. Autograph of the carol by Gruber Silent Night is a traditional and popular Christmas carol. ... Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus was the headline that appeared over an editorial in the September 21, 1897 edition of the New York Sun. ...

In North America, the holiday movie season often includes release of studios' most prestigious pictures, in an effort both to capture holiday crowds and to position themselves for Oscar consideration. Next to summer, this is the second-most lucrative season for the industry. Christmas movies generally open no later than Thanksgiving, as their themes are not so popular once the season is over. Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

Television and Christmas

TV programming in the United Kingdom also includes an expanding holiday season. Perhaps aiming for the establishment of new Christmas institutions are the UK's seasonal specials with Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies, Only Fools and Horses, and Top of the Pops). The animated tale The Snowman has been screened for many years during the Christmas period, and a new story, The Bear, by the same artist and company, is usually broadcast around the same time. In addition, HM Queen Elizabeth II annually broadcasts a 10-minute speech on Christmas Day at 3 p.m., charting her views of the past year and giving her own reflections and advice. Morecambe and Wise Morecambe and Wise were a famous British comic double act comprising Eric Morecambe OBE and Ernie Wise OBE. The act lasted four decades until Morecambes retirement shortly before his death in 1984. ... Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett The Two Ronnies was a British sketch show that aired on BBC One from 1971 to 1987. ... Only Fools and Horses is a hugely popular British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC. Seven series were broadcast between 1981 and 1991, with special Christmas episodes occasionally until 2003. ... Top of the Pops is a long-running British music chart television programme shown each week on BBC Two and now licensed for local versions around the world. ... The Snowman is a childrens book by British author Raymond Briggs, published in 1980. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), born 21 April 1926, is the Queen regnant of the following countries (shown in the order of her accession): 1952: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (all 6 February) 1962: Jamaica 1966: Barbados 1973: The Bahamas...

In the United States, most family-oriented TV series produce a Christmas special. Stand-alone Christmas specials are also popular, from newly created animated shorts and movies to repeats of those that were popular in previous years, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Some local affiliates provide the Yule Log, a block of time on Christmas morning showing footage of a fireplace, coupled with popular Christmas music. Many long-running American and UK soap operas have Christmas specials, usually involving a dramatic storyline developed over several weeks which culminates at Christmas. Often these stories are tragic, involving a death, divorce, a dramatic revelation or similar event. An image of what Rudolph might look like if he were photographed in the wild. ... Cover from the soundtrack album for A Charlie Brown Christmas A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) is the first of many prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. ... The Yule Log is a Television Program which airs traditionally on either Christmas Eve and/or Christmas morning on New York, New York television station WPIX-TV Channel 11. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television...

Christmas on the radio

Many radio stations begin to add Christmas songs to their rotation in late November, and often switch to all-Christmas programming for December 25th. Some do for part of or all of December 24th as well. A few stations switch to all-Christmas music for the entire season (some beginning as early as mid-November); In Detroit, 100.3 WNIC in 2005 started Christmas music day and night on midnight of October 31 because programmers believed that at least some listeners who are attracted by the Christmas music will remain loyal listeners when the station reverts to its standard format on Boxing Day. Radio stations also broadcast classical music, such as the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah. Among other classical pieces inspired by Christmas are the Nutcracker Suite, adapted from Tchaikovsky's ballet score, and Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248). Some radio stations that play Christmas music commercial-free the entire day on Christmas Day, others on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The 1995 re-release album cover of White Christmas A Christmas song is a song which is normally sung during the Christmas period, and usually has some Christmas or winter related theme. ... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... WNIC is an American adult contemporary radio station based in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting at 100. ... A radio format or programming format describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. ... Boxing Day is a public holiday observed in many Commonwealth countries on 26 December. ... HANDEL was the code-name for the UKs National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. ... Messiah (1741) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. ... A performance of The Nutcracker The story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was written by E. T. A. Hoffmann. ... Johann Sebastian Bach (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together almost all of the strands of the baroque style and brought it to its ultimate maturity. ... The Christmas Oratorio (German Weihnachts-Oratorium) BWV 248 is a work by Johann Sebastian Bach celebrating the Christmas season. ...

The UK music industry features the battle of the bands and artists to make it to the 'Christmas No. 1' spot, recognised on the first Sunday before, or on, Christmas Day. Many of these songs are festive, while others are novelty songs that remain but briefly at the top of the chart. Gospel singer Cliff Richard is a fixture of Christmas charts, appearing nearly every year, and subsequently being mocked for doing so. Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, India, on October 14, 1940) is one of the United Kingdoms most popular singers. ...