Love it or loathe it, Triangle radio listeners are getting twice as much Christmas music this year.

Two local stations this week switched to all-Christmas format, WRAL-FM 101.5 and WRDU-FM 106.1. Last year, WRAL was the only one.

As always, the quest for higher ratings drives the decision, especially with advertisers slashing spending. This is WRAL's third annual switch and last year ratings rose 38 percent among its target demographic, women aged 25 to 54, said program director Barry Fox.

"We lose a few listeners, but we gain many more," Fox said. "We were receiving a lot of calls and e-mails [this year], asking when we were going to start. Then when we made the switch, we got some complaints."

The feature film version of a children's television show filmed in Apex will be screened tonight as part of the town's Peak City Film Festival.

The "Rusty Bucket Kids Club" is an educational program about a group of kids who form an adventure club to explore their town, then find a magical portal which transports them back in time to meet famous figures from American history.

The beloved former WRAL anchor Charlie Gaddy makes an appearance on the program, as does WRAL's Mark Roberts. The show stars local young actors Roxanna and John Coleman Demers.

News & Observer Executive Editor John Drescher (left) writes in his Editor's Blog that the paper has been effectively "fired" by WRAL from their joint weekly TV show, "Headline Saturday."

WRAL and The N&O joined forces in 2002 to put on the weekend news discussion program. It was hosted by David Crabtree and featured an N&O editor and reporter, along with two other guests.

The show will go on, but it will no longer be affiliated with the N&O. You can read all about WRAL's decision at Drescher's Editor Blog.

Local TV news outlets will have live coverage of President Barack Obama's trip to Raleigh on Wednesday, beginning with the landing of Air Force One at RDU.

The Health Care Town Hall event at Broughton High School will begin around 11:45am and will be aired live on News 14 Carolina, WRAL, NBC 17, and UNC-TV. (WTVD will most likely cover this also, but I couldn't find any information about their coverage on their website).

If you miss anything, UNC-NC will rebroadcast the coverage at 8pm and UNC-TV will rebroadcast it at 11pm.

WRAL.com will also carry streaming video on their website. NBC 17 is also streaming the coverage on their website and hosting an online chat at mync.com

WRAL, WTVD, and WNCN will all carry live coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial service this afternoon, which means soaps, game shows, and other normal programming will be disrupted.

WRAL says they will join "Guiding Light" in progress, depending on the length of the service, then "The Price is Right" at 3pm, and "The Young and the Restless" at 4pm.

WTVD says they understand that ABC is just skipping soaps today, so viewers shouldn't miss anything. Just to be safe, you might want to check out SoapNet, which shows repeats of ABC soaps. That's channel 63 if you have Time Warner Cable.

Not sure if NBC is skipping soaps as well, but WNCN says it will not show "Days of Our Lives" at an alternate time today.

Unhappiness is a staticky TV.

The switch from analog to digital has many TV viewers suffering through some unanticipated pain
this week. Check out these articles on antenna and power supply problems at UNC-TV and also at WTVD (ABC), the two local stations who seem to be having the most trouble right now.

If the information there doesn't help you, try some of the numbers listed below. Or if you have information that might help other readers, leave it in the comment section.

Oh yeah, and double-rescan!

TV sets in the Triangle are still struggling with digital conversion, days after the nationally-mandated switchover on June 12.

UNC-TV is currently working to fix an antenna and power supply problem which will keep some sets Elmo-free throughout the summer. But many local viewers are also having trouble receiving a signal from WTVD, the local ABC affiliate.

ABC's problem appears to be nationwide. Some ABC affiliates, including WTVD, are broadcasting their digital signal on VHF, whereas most other stations broadcast on UHF. The power level assigned by the FCC for these VHF stations is lower, and that is causing the majority of reception problems.

Staff writer and Tennessee alum Aaron Moody, shows Eastern Wake how to Hook-up a Converter Box.

The show that gave us former WRAL traffic guy Mark Robert's comedy series debut, and was created and populated by the NC School of the Arts mafia is getting a second season from HBO, it was announced today.

The new episodes will begin filming later this year and debut in 2010.

That's not only good news for the actors involved, but for North Carolina's film and TV industry. The show is filmed in Wilmington.

Here's the channel lineup for the eight third-round games on CBS:

Thursday
7 p.m. Purdue vs. UConn — WRAL, Time Warner Cable 255 (HD), 257, 1051 (HD), 1061; Xavier vs. Pitt — 256, 1052 (HD), 1062

9:57 p.m. Duke vs. Villanova — WRAL, 255 (HD), 257, 1051 (HD), 1061; Missouri vs. Memphis 256, 1052 (HD), 1062

Friday
7 p.m. Syracuse vs. Oklahoma — WRAL, 255 (HD) 257, 1051 (HD), 1061; Arizona vs. Louisville 256, 1052 (HD), 1062

9:57 p.m. UNC vs. Gonzaga — WRAL, 255 (HD), 257, 1051 (HD), 1061; Kansas vs. Mich. State 256, 1052 (HD), 1062