WALK-FM flips to nonstop holiday music starting Friday

It's that time of year again: WALK/97.5 FM will flip its usual format over to nonstop holiday music starting this Friday at 5 p.m. It will continue through Christmas Day.

And just to get straight to the question you too surely have — what is the most played song on the station's holiday soundtrack?

Yup, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which has been easily the most popular and most played song for years.

And yes, this launch arrives earlier than usual from past years, too. The weekslong holiday music marathon — the best-known on Long Island radio, typically begins around Thanksgiving.

"WALK 97.5 playing nonstop holiday songs has been a Long Island tradition going on 19 years," said program director Patrick Shea in a statement. But "this year, more than ever before, we all need a little joy."

WALK said in a news release that afternoon host Christina Kay will kick off the holiday format Friday with News 12 anchor (and Wantagh native) Erin Colton who is "the perfect person to help us celebrate the event [because] we wanted to reiterate the sentiment that we all have been through a lot this year, but we’ve gotten through all the challenges together."

In that same news release, WALK wondered, perhaps rhetorically, "What song will kick off the holiday season?"

Any guesses?

Meanwhile, Manhattan-based "Lite FM" (WLTW/106.7) also will launch its round-the-clock holiday music Friday at 5 p.m. Sirius XM's many holiday-music channels have been live since last week.