Which 2 Milwaukee radio stations have gone to all-Christmas music this year? (Yes, it's earlier than usual.)

Editor's note: Which Milwaukee station went all-Christmas first in 2021? Find out here.

Christmas came early to Milwaukee radio — really early.

Thursday night at 5 p.m., WLDB-FM (93.3) was the first Milwaukee radio station to switch to an all-Christmas music format. Nov. 5 is the earliest date that any local station has gone all-Christmas in at least a decade. 

The adult-contemporary station's chief all-Christmas music rival, oldies station WRIT-FM (95.7), switched to an all-Christmas format 24 hours later, at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6. 

WLDB, which normally plays an adult-contemporary format, has been the first Milwaukee radio station to go all Yule, all the time every year since 2016.

Usually, the station makes the move a little closer to Thanksgiving. 

Last year, WLDB went all-Christmas on Nov. 18; WRIT followed a day later. 

Why earlier this year?  

It could be because more people are hunkering down at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a flurry of radio stations around the country have gotten into the Christmas spirit early this year — on Halloween. Stations in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Detroit went all-Christmas the weekend of Oct. 30. 

Variety reported Thursday that more than 50 radio stations around the country had made the switch to Christmas music already, partly because it's a short-term boost to stations' ratings and partly because, with 2020 being 2020, people could use a little cheer. 

That might have been the signal WLDB and WRIT were trying to send by switching earlier than normal. The first song WLDB played when it made the switch: "We Need a Little Christmas," by Percy Faith with His Orchestra and Chorus. 

Also on WLDB's early playlist: "All I Want for Christmas Is You," by Mariah Carey; "A Holly Jolly Christmas," by Burl Ives; "Last Christmas," by Wham!; "Home for the Holidays," by Perry Como; and "Santa Baby," by Taylor Swift. 

Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12.