On August 26, 2002, the Lite FM simulcast was dropped and the channel became its own brand: Sunny. The station was now on autopilot 24/7 with no jocks. In February 2003 Sunny joined all XM music channels in going commercial-free, making the station auto-piloted 24/7 by music. This incarnation of XM's Sunny had a beautiful music format and was programmed by Marlin Taylor. (In response to Lite FM's demise on XM, XM launched The Blend, a commercial-free mainstream adult contemporary channel on February 2, 2004.) From 2002 to 2004, Sunny featured a format of nonstop Christmas music between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year.