Editing Yule Log (TV program) (section)

==Cancellation and revival==
From 1974 to 1989, a special message by [[Richard N. Hughes]], then the vice president and general manager of WPIX-TV, usually preceded the program, which was broadcast every Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and sometimes both. In 1977, the program's broadcast on Christmas Eve was followed by WPIX's first-ever live broadcast of Midnight Mass from [[St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan)|St. Patrick's Cathedral]].<ref>{{YouTube|id=VEyMN96lbhY|title=O Come, All Ye Faithful}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|title=Midnight Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral 2017|id=m5MdHGSjlJ8}}</ref> In 1978, the program was broadcast for the first time on Christmas morning.<ref>{{YouTube|id=OGzz12fzEDo|title=The WPIX Yule Log: A Log's Life}}</ref>

The cost of broadcasting the program without commercial interruption prompted Michael Eigner, who had been appointed as the station's new general manager upon Hughes's retirement, to cancel it in 1990; incidentally that year, director [[Whit Stillman]] included a scene of a New Yorker viewing the ''Log'' in his movie ''[[Metropolitan (1990 film)|Metropolitan]]''. Despite being flooded with hundreds of letters protesting the move, WPIX did not broadcast the program, a move that lasted for eleven years, the longest-lasting hiatus for a television special at that time. Beginning in 1997, WPIX offered various versions of ''The Yule Log'' on the Internet.

In March 2000, [[Totowa, New Jersey]], resident Joseph Malzone, a longtime fan of ''The Yule Log'', created a Web site named "Bring Back The Log", now named TheYuleLog.com, and administered by Lawrence F. "Chip" Arcuri, petitioning station management to bring back ''The Yule Log'' broadcast. In December 2001, WPIX vice president/general manager Betty Ellen Berlamino announced during an appearance on local radio station [[WPLJ]] that the special would return to the television station after an eleven-year absence. Berlamino explained that people wanted "comfort food TV" in the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks]] on the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gay |first=Verne |date=2001-12-04 |title=Yule Log Returns to WPIX |url=http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/local/newyork/ny-flfirst2496496dec04.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011217223559/http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/local/newyork/ny-flfirst2496496dec04.story |archive-date=2001-12-17 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=[[Newsday]]}}</ref> ([[All-Christmas]] programming was experiencing a sudden uptick in popularity in 2001, following its nationwide rollout on radio stations.<ref name="LosA011130">{{Cite news |date=November 30, 2001 |title=Way More Than 12 Days of Christmas |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-way-more-than-12-d/166699837/ |access-date=February 28, 2025 |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |pages=F20, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-dial-kost-gets-an/166699876/ F21] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>) The digitally restored program was the most-watched television program in the New York metropolitan area on Christmas Day that year and it has continued to be broadcast annually ever since as a result.

Program director Julie O'Neil found the original master film of the 1970 fireplace at WPIX's film archives in [[Fort Lee, New Jersey]]. The master film had been misfiled in a ''[[The Honeymooners|Honeymooners]]'' film canister marked with the episode title "A Dog's Life", which resulted in a 2006 40th anniversary special about the Log being titled ''A Log's Life''. In 2009, a fourth hour of the program was added, featuring 22 new songs and seven new artists.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Twenty-Three Songs Added to The Yule Log's Fourth Hour|url=http://forum1.aimoo.com/theyulelog/NEWS-S/Official-2009-WPIX-Yule-Log-Press-Release-1-1682030.html|work=[[WPIX]]|date=December 16, 2009}}</ref>

On July 29, 2016, a [[16 mm film|16 mm print]] of the original 1966 version of the ''Yule Log'' was discovered amongst a collection of films recovered from the estate of former WPIX executive and producer William Cooper two years prior. The discovery had been made by archivist Rolando Pujol while going through the old films in search of footage of (then) presidential candidate [[Donald Trump]]. After undergoing digital restoration, WPIX later announced that they would air it on December 24 of that year – exactly 50 years to the day of its debut, making it the first time since 1988 that WPIX aired the Yule Log on Christmas Eve. It was followed by the live broadcast of Midnight Mass. An encore airing would follow at 7:00&nbsp;a.m. on December 25, followed by four hours of the 1970 log; a fifth hour of music was compiled for the Christmas morning airing.<ref>{{cite web|title=1966 Version of The Yule Log on WPIX; New Book from Saved by the Bell Producer Peter Engel|url=http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2016/11/1966-version-of-yule-log-on-wpix-new.html|website=Sitcoms Online|access-date=November 10, 2016}}</ref>