Report - published December 03, 2014

Oh, You Better Watch Out…Xmas Originals are Thriving

Oh, You Better Watch Out…Xmas Originals are Thriving

Key insights from this report:

  1. Hallmark Channel's Christmas Under Wraps is not only the most-watched made-for-TV holiday movie this year to-date, but it ruled all of cable television this past Saturday night. With 5.8 million total viewers, it was cable's most-watched program among viewers P2+ and among the P 18-49 set. A 9:30pm Big Bang Theory re-run on TBS was the second-most-watched telecast on cable, earning about 2.5 million viewers, a number far less than half of what the Hallmark film hauled in. A Royal Christmas, which aired the previous Saturday on Hallmark Channel, was the second-most-watched made-for-TV holiday film in the genre. The 11/22 telecast grabbed almost 4.5 million total viewers and a .7 rating in the 18-49 demo. A Hallmark Channel original movie has been the most-watched program on cable the past five consecutive Saturday nights.
  2. November is Hallmark Channel's month to shine. Out of the 25 Hallmark originals measured, 8 have had a holiday theme. The 8 most-watched originals of the year to-date are those 8 Christmas originals that have aired since November 1st. Lifetime's holiday movies haven't performed great for the network in terms of average total viewership. That said, the Lifetime holiday-themed originals score an audience on the younger side of the Lifetime spectrum. Their three holiday originals to air this year all sit in the top 10 for youngest median age. Seasons of Love, while not grabbing tons of total viewers, was the 4th youngest original movie this year to-date. Grumpy Cat was #6 overall in terms of youngest median age, top 5 in terms of male audience composition % and top 10 in overall male viewers this year to-date. Perhaps featuring Parks & Recreation star Aubrey Plaza boosted younger viewership? Maybe males respected the "grumpyness" aspect of the special.
  3. Hallmark and Lifetime seemed to go in opposite directions on weekend nights last month. Hallmark saw an increase in total viewership on Saturday/Sunday nights last month compared to November 2013, but it lost P 18-49 viewers. On the other side, Lifetime saw a sharp decrease in total viewership on these nights last month compared with November 2013. That said, P 18-49 ratings were higher on weekend nights last month than they were on weekend nights in November 2013. The same is true for Up TV, which was up across the board last month compared to November 2013.

While the common American may consider Thanksgiving to be the de-facto start of the annual holiday season, network executives see the season in a slightly different light. The Hallmark Channel aired One Starry Christmas on November 1st (yes, you read that correctly), and the channel will air the final Christmas-themed original of the year on December 14th (The Christmas Parade). Between those two dates, cable networks The Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, Up and Nickelodeon will have aired a combined 30 made-for-TV films, with Hallmark Channel airing a 12 originals during this holiday season. 19 of the 30 have already aired…and it’s only December 3rd! Are the frequency of these made-for-tv holiday movies overkill? Apparently not. Hallmark’s Saturday night originals have dominated cable the past five Saturday nights. Keeping this in mind, which are the highest-rated holiday theme TV films of the season t0-date? How do these films compare with other original programs on the respective networks? How (if at all) have these films impacted the network monthly averages versus those of previous months? How are they stacking up against 2013 made-for-TV films? Let’s start up the fire, grab a blanket, some egg nog and take a look at holiday-theme made-for-TV movie performance:

 Made-For-TV Holiday Movie Performance (Live+SD)

By our count, 19 made-for-TV holiday originals have premiered from November 1st to-date. Below is a table showing the date, network, title, day of week and demo for each of the 19 holiday TV films measured.

Date Originator Program Episode Common Day of The Week P 2+ Proj (000s) P 18-49 Rtg% P 18-49 Proj (000s) P 25-54 Rtg% P 25-54 Proj (000s)
11/29/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE CHRISTMAS UNDER WRAPS SATURDAY 5750 1.00 1273 1.33 1587
11/22/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE A ROYAL CHRISTMAS SATURDAY 4482 0.70 892 1.00 1194
11/23/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE THE CHRISTMAS SHEPHERD SUNDAY 4154 0.60 759 0.88 1047
11/15/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE NORTHPOLE SATURDAY 4007 0.69 878 0.97 1158
11/08/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTMAS SATURDAY 3356 0.51 649 0.77 921
11/16/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE ANGELS & ORNAMENTS SUNDAY 3325 0.43 552 0.59 704
11/09/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE A COOKIE CUTTER CHRISTMAS SUNDAY 3215 0.53 667 0.76 906
11/01/2014 HALLMARK CHANNEL HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE ONE STARRY CHRISTMAS SATURDAY 3088 0.46 581 0.65 782
11-28-14 NICKELODEON MOVIE SANTA HUNTERS FRIDAY 2976 0.49 619 0.48 572
11/29/2014 LIFETIME TELEVISION SATURDAY MOVIE III GRUMPY CATS WORST XMAS SATURDAY 1767 0.52 658 0.61 728
11/22/2014 LIFETIME TELEVISION SATURDAY MOVIE III AN EN VOGUE CHRISTMAS SATURDAY 1089 0.32 406 0.38 460
11/23/2014 HALLMRK MOV & MYST HMM ORIGINAL MOVIE SIGNED SEALED FOR XMAS SUNDAY 755 0.08 102 0.14 171
11/23/2014 LIFETIME TELEVISION SUNDAY MOVIE IV SEASONS OF LOVE SUNDAY 734 0.28 360 0.31 373
11/30/2014 UP UP PREMIERE MOVIE TREE THAT SAVED XMAS, THE SUNDAY 638 0.08 100 0.18 214
11/23/2014 UP SUNDAY MOVIE CHRISTMAS IN PALM SPRINGS SUNDAY 544 0.10 125 0.11 136
11/16/2014 UP UP PREMIERE MOVIE PAPER ANGELS SUNDAY 527 0.06 79 0.10 118
11/26/2014 UP M-F MOVIE CHRISTMAS TREE MIRACLE, A WEDNESDAY 371 0.06 75 0.09 113
11/09/2014 UP UP PREMIERE MOVIE NAUGHTY AND NICE SUNDAY 300 0.04 56 0.06 70
11/28/2014 UP M-F MOVIE 12 DOG DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS FRIDAY 292 0.04 45 0.05 60

As one might expect, the Hallmark originals score the most viewers on average. This past Saturday night’s Hallmark original movie Christmas Under Wraps destroyed the competition in the genre, hauling in almost 5.8 million viewers in total. It also is tops in the genre among P 18-49 (1.0 rating).

But perhaps most importantly, Hallmark Channel’s Christmas Under Wraps ruled this past Saturday night. It was cable’s most-watched program among average total viewers and among the P 18-49 set. A 9:30pm Big Bang Theory re-run on TBS was the second-most-watched telecast on cable, earning about 2.5 million viewers, a number far less than half of what the Hallmark film hauled in on 11/29. A Royal Christmas, which aired the previous Saturday on Hallmark Channel, was the second-most-watched made-for-TV holiday film in the genre. The 11/22 telecast grabbed almost 4.5 million total viewers and a .7 rating in the 18-49 demo.

A Hallmark Channel original movie has been the most-watched program on cable the past five consecutive Saturday nights.

The higher-rated holiday originals have aired more recently. That not only goes for Christmas Under Wraps versus other Hallmark holiday originals, but also it has also been the case in terms of holiday originals that have aired on Lifetime and Up. Is this a coincidence? Doubtful. It’s quite likely that people are just getting more into the holiday spirit as Christmas approaches, and this has influenced ratings. Wouldn’t be shocked if next Saturday night’s Hallmark original Debbie Macomber’s Mr. Miracle shatters more total viewership records.

Over on Nickelodeon, this past Friday night’s original Santa Hunters hauled in almost 3 million total viewers. This number is average total viewer number is higher than all of the Lifetime and Up originals.

Speaking of Lifetime, Grumpy Cat’s Worst X-mas went head-to-head with Christmas Under Wraps, and predictably lost in average total viewership. That said, it performed better than the early-November Hallmark originals in the key demo, and out-performed the previous Saturday night Lifetime original An En Vogue Christmas by a good margin across the board. Grumpy scored almost 1.8 million total viewers per Live+SD and a .52 rating in the 18-49 set. On a separate note, the program out-performed NBC’s 8pm presentation of The National Dog Show in P 18-49.

Unlike Lifetime and Hallmark Channel, Up aired its most-watched holiday original on Sunday night: The Tree That Saved X-mas. Airing this past Sunday, the film brought in 638,000 total viewers but only a .08 rating in the key demo. The previous Sunday (11/23) UP holiday original Christmas in Palm Springs scored fewer total viewers (544,000) but a slightly higher 18-49 rating (.10).

Next is a graph showing the top 10 highest-rated movies in this genre, broken down by Nielsen ratings, P 18-49.

The story is slightly different when it comes to P 18-49 ranking. Lifetime originals move up a bit in the rankings. Out of the 19 movies measured, Grumpy Cat finished in 10th among average total viewership. It finished 6th in P 18-49, besting multiple Hallmark movies that had double the total viewership. Nickelodeon’s Santa Hunters finished 9th in average total viewership but moved up one spot to 8th among P 18-49.

How do these Hallmark Channel holiday movies compare with the rest of their programming slate in 2014? Is November their go-to month?

 Hallmark Channel Made-For-TV Originals in 2014 (Live+SD)

Date Program Episode P 2+ Proj (000s) F 18-49 Rtg% F 18-49 Proj (000s) F 25-54 Rtg% F 25-54 Proj (000s) P 18-49 Rtg% P 18-49 Proj (000s) P 25-54 Rtg% P 25-54 Proj (000s)
11/29/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE CHRISTMAS UNDER WRAPS 5750 1.45 930 1.91 1158 1.00 1273 1.33 1587
11/22/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE A ROYAL CHRISTMAS 4482 1.11 712 1.56 945 0.70 892 1.00 1194
11/15/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE NORTHPOLE 4007 1.02 651 1.39 844 0.69 878 0.97 1158
11/23/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE THE CHRISTMAS SHEPHERD 4154 0.89 569 1.30 791 0.60 759 0.88 1047
11/09/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE A COOKIE CUTTER CHRISTMAS 3215 0.79 504 1.14 695 0.53 667 0.76 906
11/08/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTMAS 3356 0.77 494 1.13 688 0.51 649 0.77 921
11/01/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE ONE STARRY CHRISTMAS 3088 0.73 468 1.06 644 0.46 581 0.65 782
11/16/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE ANGELS & ORNAMENTS 3325 0.72 460 0.93 567 0.43 552 0.59 704
10/25/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE THE GOOD WITCHS WONDER 2486 0.49 314 0.80 488 0.34 431 0.52 621
10/18/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE MY BOYFRIENDS DOGS 1718 0.43 276 0.66 401 0.26 329 0.41 489
07/19/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE 1977 0.58 371 0.65 399 0.32 407 0.39 465
08/09/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE STRANDED IN PARADISE 2024 0.41 266 0.65 395 0.27 349 0.42 506
03/08/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE A RING BY SPRING 1708 0.34 219 0.56 338 0.23 296 0.36 429
10/11/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE RECIPE FOR LOVE 1441 0.37 238 0.55 335 0.22 278 0.32 380
04/19/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE A LESSON IN ROMANCE 1430 0.35 221 0.51 308 0.22 283 0.34 404
04/05/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE LUCKY IN LOVE 1234 0.34 220 0.48 291 0.21 264 0.29 353
07/12/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE ANGELS SING 1989 0.28 177 0.47 287 0.19 244 0.32 382
09/27/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE 1630 0.26 163 0.45 270 0.15 188 0.27 318
01/18/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE JUNE IN JANUARY 1528 0.29 186 0.40 243 0.18 231 0.23 278
09/20/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE PERFECT ON PAPER 1540 0.24 154 0.39 238 0.13 169 0.21 253
02/08/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE CHANCE AT ROMANCE 1582 0.28 182 0.39 237 0.20 253 0.28 334
06/28/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE WHEN SPARKS FLY 1437 0.26 167 0.38 231 0.18 227 0.24 284
05/10/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE MOMS DAY AWAY 1409 0.34 215 0.37 228 0.21 270 0.22 267
06/07/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE LOOKING FOR MR. RIGHT 1285 0.20 130 0.33 198 0.12 148 0.21 251
08/16/2014 HALL ORIGINAL MOVIE LOOKING FOR MR. RIGHT 1140 0.19 120 0.30 185 0.12 155 0.18 220

November is Hallmark Channel’s month to shine. Out of the 25 Hallmark Channel original movies measured, 8 have a holiday theme. The 8 most-watched Hallmark originals of the year to-date are the 8 Christmas originals that have aired. Four of the network’s 5 youngest-skewing specials have a holiday theme, including Northpole, the youngest-skewing special of the year to-date.

Next, let’s take a look at Lifetime. How have their holiday-themed made-for-TV movies compared with their other 2014 original movies? Have their November originals caused a rise in primetime viewership average in their key demos?

 Lifetime Made-For-TV Originals in 2014 (Live+SD)

Here is how Lifetime’s Saturday 8pm originals have performed this year to-date. One can sort by date, program or demo. Highlighted are those with a holiday theme:

Date Episode P 2+ Proj (000s) P 18-49 Rtg% P 18-49 Proj (000s) P 25-54 Rtg% P 25-54 Proj (000s) F 18-49 Rtg % F 18-49 Proj (000s) F 25-54 Rtg % F 25-54 Proj (000s)
01/18/2014 FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC 6059 1.88 2392 2.18 2611 2.96 1893 3.27 1990
01/25/2014 LIZZIE BORDEN TOOK AN AX 4391 1.24 1570 1.48 1771 1.82 1168 2.03 1233
02/01/2014 GABBY DOUGLAS STORY, THE 3842 1.17 1490 1.21 1449 1.88 1206 1.87 1137
11/15/2014 AALIYAH: PRINCESS OF R&B 3219 1.35 1712 1.32 1575 2.07 1323 1.96 1192
02/15/2014 GOOD MISTRESS, THE 2256 0.59 753 0.73 875 0.94 605 1.14 691
04/19/2014 DAY LATE & A DOLLAR SHORT 2194 0.57 729 0.74 881 0.90 577 1.08 655
03/08/2014 TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL 2148 0.48 611 0.60 713 0.70 449 0.85 519
03/01/2014 HAPPY FACE KILLER, THE 2019 0.46 587 0.63 753 0.63 402 0.86 525
02/08/2014 GIRL HE MET ONLINE, THE 2006 0.52 661 0.64 766 0.71 457 0.87 532
06/28/2014 OUTLAW PROPH WARREN JEFFS 1864 0.48 611 0.51 616 0.77 492 0.83 502
11/29/2014 GRUMPY CATS WORST XMAS 1767 0.52 658 0.61 728 0.72 463 0.79 481
03/29/2014 ZOE GONE 1739 0.49 616 0.52 624 0.86 554 0.85 517
07/12/2014 PRESUMED DEAD IN PARADISE 1655 0.45 575 0.57 686 0.73 466 0.89 541
04/12/2014 DEATH CLIQUE 1529 0.45 574 0.51 614 0.77 492 0.81 492
09/06/2014 BRITTANY MURPHY STORY 1527 0.64 811 0.69 819 0.90 579 1.00 605
02/22/2014 STATUS: UNKNOWN 1527 0.43 552 0.51 605 0.68 438 0.77 466
05/03/2014 DAUGHTERS NIGHTMARE, A 1521 0.36 451 0.43 510 0.60 383 0.70 424
07/05/2014 KILLING DADDY 1504 0.40 504 0.51 609 0.60 387 0.70 428
10/11/2014 WARDENS RANSOM, A 1467 0.29 367 0.39 467 0.44 282 0.54 329
10/04/2014 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE 1431 0.39 496 0.51 611 0.64 412 0.79 481
06/21/2014 STOLEN FROM THE WOMB 1411 0.42 527 0.50 600 0.68 436 0.81 492
03/15/2014 GRIM SLEEPER, THE 1401 0.36 451 0.51 608 0.58 374 0.82 499
09/20/2014 ASSAULT, THE 1346 0.37 472 0.48 575 0.60 381 0.75 454
05/10/2014 GOOD SISTER, THE 1335 0.35 447 0.48 573 0.55 353 0.76 463
09/13/2014 DELIVERANCE CREEK 1258 0.22 278 0.28 330 0.34 217 0.39 239
04/26/2014 STARVING IN SUBURBIA 1102 0.34 433 0.36 437 0.57 368 0.60 363
11/22/2014 AN EN VOGUE CHRISTMAS 1089 0.32 406 0.38 460 0.52 333 0.60 362
07/26/2014 CHOKING GAME, THE 1070 0.35 443 0.39 463 0.56 361 0.62 376
11/08/2014 DEAD ON CAMPUS 1001 0.31 388 0.36 427 0.51 327 0.53 323
10/25/2014 HIGH SCHOOL POSSESSION 837 0.28 362 0.30 358 0.44 281 0.42 258
11/23/2014 SEASONS OF LOVE 734 0.28 360 0.31 373 0.44 281 0.48 290

Looking at Live+SD data, Lifetime’s holiday movies haven’t performed great for the network in terms of average total viewership. Out of the 31 weekend-night originals we came across, Grumpy Cat finished 11th in P2+, 9th in P 18-49, 10th in P 25-54, 12th in F 18-49 and 17th in F 25-54. An En Vogue Christmas finished 27th and the lone Sunday night original Seasons of Love finished last in average total viewership (734,000).

On the positive end, the Lifetime holiday-themed originals score an audience that’s on the younger side of the spectrum. All three Lifetime holiday originals sit in the 2014 Lifetime original movie top 10 youngest median viewer age category. Seasons of Love, while not grabbing tons of total viewers, was the 4th youngest original movie this year to-date. Grumpy Cat was #6 overall in terms of youngest median age, top 5 in terms of male audience composition % and top 10 in overall male viewers this year to-date. Perhaps featuring Parks & Recreation star Aubrey Plaza boosted younger viewership? Maybe males respected the “grumpyness” factor of the special, a characteristic not always found in other Lifetime originals.

An En Vogue Christmas was #7 in terms of youngest viewer age.

Lastly, let’s compare the Saturday/Sunday 8 – 10pm block during November 2013 with that same block during November 2014. This is when Hallmark Channel has aired their holiday-themed original movies. Has there been an improvement in average ratings for the holiday specials?

Hallmark Weekend Prime November 2013 vs. Hallmark Weekend Prime November 2014 (Live+SD Nielsen Ratings)

Average total viewership for the Sat/Sun 8-10pm block in November 2013 was 3.59 million viewers. The number during the same time interval in November 2014 was 3.71 million viewers. P 25-54 viewership was up during this interval in 2014 compared to 2013. On the other hand, P 18-49 viewership was down this past November in the aforementioned interval compared to 2013.

Have Lifetime originals holiday-themed movies boosted their weekend primetime ratings compared with November 2013? Let’s look:

 

This is one of the more interesting trends in today’s report. P 18-49 viewers watched Lifetime on weekend nights last month more than they watched on weekend nights in November 2013.

Average age plummeted on weekend nights in November 2014 (44.1 years) compared with Saturday and Sunday nights in the same month last year (56.0 years).

Average total viewership P2+ on Saturday and Sunday nights in November 2014 (1.16 million) was significantly down from those nights in November 2013 (1.53 million). That said, P 18-49 ratings were up on those nights this past month (.42) compared to Saturday and Sunday nights in November 2013 (.35). Average P 25-54 impressions on Saturday and Sunday nights last month (544,000) were slightly above those in November 2013 (539,000). The ratings in the demo were the same (.45)

Over at Up TV, total viewership, P 18-49 and P 25-54 primetime ratings were stronger in November 2014 than they were in November 2013. Original movies likely helped.

Anyways, original holiday-themed movies seem to bring viewers to the set, some young, some old. Fear not, made-for-TV holiday movie fans; the end is far from near! Lifetime is presenting Wally Lamb’s Wishin and Hopin on December 6th (Saturday) and The Santa Con on December 13th. TV One presents Second Chance Christmas this coming Saturday. BET presents A Very Larry Christmas on Monday, December 9th.

Next up on the Hallmark Channel, Debbie Macomber’s Mr. Miracle this Saturday, the 6th. On Sunday the 7th, Christmas at Cartwright’s. Saturday, 12/13 is Best Christmas Ever and Sunday the 14th is The Christmas Parade.

Hallmark Movies and Mysteries delivers The Christmas Secret on Sunday, 12/7.

UP presents Marry US For Christmas this Sunday the 7th.

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Other reports on the key networks in this report: Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, UP

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