By Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist Published Oct 31, 2013 at 7:07 PM

Even though the calendar says Halloween, it's nothing but "Jingle Bells" and other Christmas music on WZTI-AM 1290 Martini Radio in Milwaukee.

Today’s format change is the first holiday move in the market. In years past it has been WRIT-FM 95.7 and WMYX-FR 99.1 that have duked it out for the top of Santa’s nice list. Last year WMYX decided to stay with its main format, sprinkling in holiday songs here and there – fitting for a station called "The Mix."

Now, the adult standards station WZTI has dubbed itself, "Milwaukee’s Official Christmas Music Station."

"The stores are decorated, people are shopping, and Christmas is almost here, so Milwaukee’s ready to celebrate the season with Christmas music," Stan Atkinson, WZTI-AM operations manager, said in a statement.

WZTI is a relatively new station in the market. Well, the ownership of the station didn’t change, but the format did. In March of this year, the once "Talk of the Town" outlet transitioned to current crooners and singers of days gone by.

The early move is sure to give the station local and national buzz, which, I’m pretty sure helped lead to the decision.

Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist

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