I think it did say in the article that Galaxy has gone Christmas on or about the same date for the past few years.
I don't think Y and Lite always go at the same time every year. Seems like sometimes they hold out until Thanksgiving, sometimes it's mid-November and sometimes it's earlier of Thanksgiving week, especially if the calendar is such that Thanksgiving falls "later" in November.
I'm personally a fan of waiting until after Thanksgiving, but in years where Nov 1st falls on a Friday or Saturday, Thanksgiving isn't until the 28th or 29th. In those years, I can understand going a bit early to get a full month in. Anything more is way too much.