St. Louis's NPR station, KWMU-90.7 FM, is abandoning a long-standing custom this year, at least in part: They will not be broadcasting the BBC's annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols live from King's College, Cambridge. The weekly lineup of chatty shows will not be disturbed just because it's Christmas Eve.

Instead, KWMU offers local listeners two options: You can hear it live on their HD-3 outlet from 9 to 11 a.m. - or you can listen to it on the regular terrestrial station from 8 to 10 p.m.

Few people have HD radios; it's going to be hard for most people to listen to it in their cars. Lots of people have other places to be and things to do (including church) on the night of Christmas Eve.

And for some of us, that broadcast marks the real beginning of Christmas.

You can listen to the HD channel on your computer. You can also listen to the program directly from the BBC's World Service or on BBC Radio Four. (If you use a Myine or other device to stream radio stations from the internet to your stereo system, you'll want BBC 4.)

KWMU has not publicized the change much, if at all. Those who expect to be able to turn on their radios at 9 a.m. as usual and hear an ethereal treble sing the first verse of "Once in Royal David's City" are going to be in for a major disappointment.