On WKAR TV 23.1 | Celebrate the holiday season with WKAR! Tune in and enjoy a variety of holiday classics and seasonal favorites.
Schedule and descriptions subject to change. All Times Eastern.
DECEMBER 2025
2 | Tue
8:00 Holiday at Hudson's
5 | Fri
9:00 Rick Steves European Christmas
From manger scenes and mistletoe to wintry wonderlands, RICK STEVES' EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS celebrates the Christmas season throughout the European continent. In the special, Rick visits friends and families in England, France, Norway, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy to reveal their customs and practices of the holiday season. He begins his travels in England, where the Christmas pudding is the real centerpiece of a traditional English holiday meal. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower heralds the season with its red, twinkling lights. And in the countryside of Tuscany, villagers stack neat pyramids of wood for great bonfires. The lighting of the fires is a signal to villagers - dressed as shepherds - to come and sing old carols. RICK STEVES' EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS offers a colorful, musical celebration of Christmas across Europe where viewers will learn about customs from "the old countries," hear local choirs, and discover holiday family traditions.
15 | Mon
9:00 Hope of the Season: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir
Tony Award-winner Ruthie Ann Miles and iconic actor Dennis Haysbert inspire in this holiday special that combines classic Christmas carols with a contemporary story of how giving back and uplifting communities is the true meaning of the season.
10:30 European Christmas Markets
Join us on our discovery of Europe's Christmas Markets, where the town center, market square or just the narrow, cobblestone streets of the cities and towns of Europe come alive in winter with festively decorated wooden stalls offering all sorts of treats and delights. As we travel through Germany, France and Switzerland we visit cities and towns and learn of their history, see their major sights, and visit their charming markets. Besides being a visual treat, the show is also a musical treat, as T the Kingston Trio provides special folk arrangements of traditional Christmas carols to add to the magic and enchantment of the medieval and castle towns we visit. In our visit to Bernkastel-Kues we see the town hall decorated as an advent calendar, and learn of the traditional beverage of the markets, the Gluhwein. In Nuremberg we visit the imposing castle, and one of the most famous of all the Christmas markets. You can almost smell the roasting sausages and gingerbread sold in the stalls. In Rothenburg we learn of the traditional wooden Christmas decorations from the son of the founder of the Kathe Wolfhart Christmas store, and wander along the ramparts the the fairy tale village. Then we have a quick stop in the wine town of Rudesheim. A unique visit is made to the ancient town of Michelstadt and its Christmas market. And then into France, to see how the French celebrate the season in Strasbourg. We conclude our travels in Switzerland, with the sights and sounds of the holidays in Basel and and the alpine city of Lucerne. This show is a true Christmas treat, as we experience Europe at a time of community, conviviality and color. It will fill your senses with the warmth and the fun of the holiday season, with some geography and history lessons to boot!
16 | Tue
9:00 Great Performances: Nutcracker from English National Ballet
Enjoy Tchaikovsky's holiday classic set in Edwardian-era London. Clara embarks on a fantastical adventure with her enchanted nutcracker featuring over 100 dancers and a magical, dreamlike realm. Choreographed by Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smith.
10:30 American Masters: Ten Times Better
The astonishing and heartwarming story of George Lee, a pioneering Asian dancer who originated a featured role in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker 70 years ago as a teenage immigrant from China.
17 | Wed
8:00 Nature: Santa's Wild Home
Get an intimate look into life in Lapland, fabled land of Santa Claus and actual home of tenacious wildlife such as reindeer, wolverines, Brown bears and more
23 | Tue
9:00 Hope College Christmas Vespers 2025
10:00 The St. Olaf Christmas Festival: Our Hope for Years to Come
St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota presents music for the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Season. First held in 1912, the St. Olaf Christmas Festival is one of the oldest musical celebrations of Christmas in the United States, and features more than 450 students from St. Olaf College's renowned choirs and orchestra. Featuring familiar carols, beloved choral works, and exciting new compositions, themes of the Advent and Christmas season are explored through music in this cherished tradition.
24 | Wed
8:00 Hope of the Season: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir
Tony Award-winner Ruthie Ann Miles and iconic actor Dennis Haysbert inspire in this holiday special that combines classic Christmas carols with a contemporary story of how giving back and uplifting communities is the true meaning of the season.
25 | Thu
8:00 Call The Midwife Holiday Special
When senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, the younger midwives are left to cope alone. As the Christmas action shifts between the sun-drenched Far East and a snowy East End, Sister Julienne suddenly finds herself excited about the Order's future. After years of battling change, she decides to embrace it, work with it, and see what love can do.
10:00 Call The Midwife Holiday Special
When senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, the younger midwives are left to cope alone. As the Christmas action shifts between the sun-drenched Far East and a snowy East End, Sister Julienne suddenly finds herself excited about the Order's future. After years of battling change, she decides to embrace it, work with it, and see what love can do.
27 | Sat
9:00 Call The Midwife Holiday Special
When senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, the younger midwives are left to cope alone. As the Christmas action shifts between the sun-drenched Far East and a snowy East End, Sister Julienne suddenly finds herself excited about the Order's future. After years of battling change, she decides to embrace it, work with it, and see what love can do.