AW/Early Christmas

I love it that they're showing the Christmas episodes now.  It
completely puts me in the Christmas mood and has inspired me to start
listening to my Christmas music a liitle early.  (Usually I start
about mid-December.  Christmas music is one of my favorite parts about
the season.  Right now, I'm listening to one of my Mannheim
Steamroller CDs.  Maybe later I'll listen to my all-time favorite
Christmas album, Amy Grant's "A Christmas Album.")

Anyway, it brings up a question.  SoapNet started airing AW this
summer, and IIRC, it was summer for them, too.  So why are they ahead
now?  There must have been a lot of exemptions, but can anyone
remember what they were?  Just curious.

Christine