Dutch television channel SBS6 will not be showing commercials or traditional Christmas programming on the evening of December 25, but has opted for a crackling log fire instead.

The fire will be burning between 6.30 pm and 10.30 pm accompanied by Christmas music provided by Sky Radio, the channel said.

The move is meant to ‘offer people an opportunity not to watch programmes for a bit but to take time with their family, friends, neighbours, or people who could do with a bit of company.’

‘Good food, good conversation, games, in short, time for each other. And we’ll take care of the fire,’ Marco Louwerens, director of the channel’s owner Talpa told broadcaster NOS.

Louwerens said four hours of log fire would probably not draw a huge number of viewers. ‘We hope of course that lots of people will be watching our shows, it’s our bread and butter after all. But we still want to do something different for once.’

The four hour long log fire has even managed to find a sponsor – supermarket group Lidl.