Holiday favorites like A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story will soon return, along with new family friendly films including Dashing Through the Snow on Disney+, Melissa McCarthy’s Genie on Peacock and much, much more.
Supply-chain woes are this year’s Grinch, threatening to steal gifts and good cheer. But TV is overstocked with holiday specials and rom-coms — including the Food Network’s first movie and the rebranded GAC Family channel’s Christmas debut.
A Sugar & Spice Holiday, premiering Sunday, may be the first feel-good TV Christmas flick to feature a mostly Asian ensemble. It’s one of several projects where cable channels are demonstrating a desire for inclusion this yuletide season.
Exclusives
As the industry was still unsure when sports would return and TV production would resume, Ed Georger, EVP, advertising sales and digital media for Crown Media Family Networks, Hallmark Channel’s parent company, had a calming message for clients. “The one thing you can count on: They will not cancel Christmas.”
A Santa bag of options are available to distract you from gift-wrapping and family squabbles, including the Grinch, the Brady Bunch and John Legend. Here’s a sampling from broadcast networks, cable and streaming services, all times ET.
Among this year’s offerings are movie and toon classics, parades and dog shows, game shows and a series finale and a pair of themed Saturday Night Live specials. Here’s a rundown of NBC’s holiday plans.
A special Nielsen study found that amid the mad dash for the perfect gift, last year’s holiday season saw primetime holiday-themed programming reach more than 217 million viewers. Put another way, over 85% of all U.S. TV households watched at least a minute of this type of content between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
For anyone who isn’t feeling the holiday spirit yet, getting into the swing of things could be as simple as turning on the TV, according to a new Nielsen survey. In fact, the survey noted that more than 41% of respondents said they get into that holiday spirit by seeing holiday-themed movies, and nearly 62% say they plan to watch annual holiday programming on the tube this year.
