When people traditionally think about musicals, high school productions and Broadway are what usually comes to mind. Now, live television is on that list due to two networks, NBC and Fox.

This new trend continues tonight with NBC’s production of Hairspray.

NBC aired its first musical, The Sound of Music, in 2013 because its entertainment chairman, Bob Greenbalt, wanted to see it for himself. They had no idea it would be so favorably received by the general audience.

After that success, the network aired Peter Pan in 2014, which had lower ratings, and then last year’s The Wiz, which did much better. Fox copied the idea and earlier this year aired Grease live, which is now on Netflix, and The Rocky Horror Show this past October.

Now that it’s been done a few times, NBC’s production is becoming another holiday tradition — like the Hallmark non-stop Christmas movie marathon, but less annoying.

Whether viewers are fans of musicals or not, there are benefits to doing this every year.

Classics done in theaters by professionals can be expensive for people to see. By showing musicals on TV, people who know little about them or can’t afford to go see them are being exposed to musicals. It also is getting kids and teenagers interested in musicals and getting them involved in their local productions, which keep theater programs going.

Doing live performances allows big names like Ariana Grande, Carrie Underwood, Ne-Yo, Queen Latifah, Derek Hough, and others to perform in shows they never would have the time to do long term. This is not only rewarding for them, but also brings musicals into different areas of pop culture.

The least obvious benefit is that a different musical is performed yearly, which brings variety to a time where the same movies are watched and the same music is listened to over and over. This opens doors for new messages and themes to be spread to a huge audience, which might be why Hairspray is airing this year.

Even with all the annoying advertising, it appears that this trend and its benefits will continue to impact pop culture for holidays to come.