Santa delivered big-time for Hallmark in 2024. For the 11th year in a row, Hallmark Channel’s original holiday programming elevated it to become the most-watched entertainment cable network of the year among key demographics including Total Viewers, Persons 18+ and Women 18+, according to data provided by the network on January 7, 2025.
Hallmark’s annual Countdown to Christmas programming stunt was a rousing success again, featuring more than 30 new holiday movies that premiered each weekend from October through December. It was so successful, in fact, that Hallmark said its top three most-watched movies of the holiday season were also the most-watched movies across all cable TV in 2024.
Here are the Top 3 Hallmark Channel Movies of 2024
Hallmark“Holiday Touchdown” starring Tyler Hynes & Hunter KingThe top 3 Hallmark Channel movies of the holiday season — and of 2024 — make sense given the amount of buzz they received from fans and in the press.
The number one most-watched movie of the year, according to Hallmark, was “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story,” starring Tyler Hynes and Hunter King, and featuring celebrities ranging from Ed Begley Jr. in a supporting role to cameos by Donna Kelce, Jenna Bush Hager and multiple Chiefs players.
The second most-watched film of 2024 was another Hynes project — “Three Wiser Men and a Boy,” the sequel to 2022’s hit “Three Wise Men and a Baby” co-starring Andrew Walker and Paul Campbell.
Hallmark said the third most popular movie of the year was “Santa Tell Me,” featuring the highly-anticipated reunion of “When Calls The Heart” star Erin Krakow and Daniel Lissing, who played her husband in the first five seasons before his character’s death. “Santa Tell Me” also featured fun cameos from Benjamin Ayres, Christopher Russell and Kurt Szarka.
Hallmark’s 2024 numbers, based on data from industry leader Nielsen, differ from the widely-reported holiday ratings released by SambaTV in mid-December. That report ranked “Santa Tell Me” as Hallmark’s top movie and didn’t include either of the other movies in its rankings, but it did count “‘Tis the Season to Be Irish” and “Our Holiday Story” in its list of top holiday films. SambaTV did not provide details on how its data was calculated or which demographics it was referring to.
As Cable Viewership Declined, Hallmark Hit the Ground Running
HallmarkTyler Hynes joins Jonathan Bennett and Melissa Peterman for the second episode of “Finding Mr. Christmas”Cable TV viewership continued to decline in 2024 due to cord-cutting and a rise in streaming video, per Forbes, but plenty of networks have tried to emulate Hallmark’s annual holiday success,
which explains why Hallmark launched its own streaming platform, Hallmark+, in September.
Assuring that those who’ve left cable behind can still see Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Mystery originals, the network announced in December that every new movie would be available on the streamer the day after its linear cable premiere.
Hallmark did not provide viewership numbers for its first several months of original programming on Hallmark+, which included holiday series “Mistletoe Murders,” “Holidazed,” Wes Brown’s “Ready, Set Glow!” and the already-renewed “Finding Mr. Christmas” co-created by host Jonathan Bennett.
Hallmark’s press release also said that Hallmark Mystery, which aired a lineup of new “Miracles of Christmas” movies throughout the holiday season, including Alison Sweeney and Niall Matter’s “This Time Each Year,” ranked as the fourth most-watched entertainment cable network in 2024.
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