All 25 (So Far) 2021 Hallmark Christmas Movies Ranked by Ratings

Hallmark Channel’s 2021 “Countdown to Christmas,” which launched on Oct. 22, is beating down the competition — and not just among women. (But yes, particularly among women.)

This is the sixth consecutive year that Hallmark’s holiday programming strategy has made the Crown Media channel’s crown jewel the most-watched fourth-quarter entertainment cable network (so, no news or sports) among women 25-54, which is its key demo. Hallmark Channel is No. 1 this quarter among women 18 and over and in terms of total viewers (a Nielsen demo that counts everyone age 2 or older).

“‘Countdown to Christmas’ is solidly an annual tradition in our viewers’ lives that continues to grow and evolve, and our 2021 season has delivered a standout performance so far, driving the network to be No. 1 among women 18+ in the quarter-to-date as it has for the past seven years,” Lisa Hamilton Daly, Hallmark’s executive vice president of programming, told TheWrap. “The Hallmark brand is synonymous with warmth, positivity, and celebrating the meaningful moments in life, and we look forward to sharing the remainder of this year’s uniquely diverse and heartfelt storylines with our audiences.”

Yeah, she’s pretty merry this time of year. To date, the “Countdown to Christmas” franchise has reached 39 million unduplicated viewers, a Hallmark spokesperson told TheWrap.

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Below, we’ve ranked each of the 25 “Countdown” movies (to date) by their demo viewers. No. 1 is “The Christmas Contest,” an unofficial “Fuller House” reunion for Netflix cast mates Candace Cameron Bure and John Brotherton. “My Christmas Family Tree” starring Aimee Teegarden (“Friday Night Lights”) was just 3,000 demo viewers away from making it a tie up top, where the star goes.

The lowest-rated movie thus far has been “A Holiday in Harlem.” That’s an unfortunate result, considering the movie was an attempt to diversify the channel’s still generally white, straight and Christmas-celebrating slate. The lone Hanukkah movie on the list, last Friday’s “Eight Gifts of Hanukkah,” avoided being second-to-last by just 5,000 viewers from Hallmark’s key demo.

1. “The Christmas Contest” (Sunday, Nov. 28): 500,000 women 25-54
2. “My Christmas Family Tree” (Saturday, Nov. 13): 497,000
3. “An Unexpected Christmas” (Friday, Nov. 26): 465,000
4. “Next Stop, Christmas” (Saturday, Nov. 6): 464,000
5. “The Nine Kittens of Christmas” (Thursday, Nov. 25): 449,000
6. “Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday” (Sunday, Dec. 5): 445,000
7. “A Kiss Before Christmas” (Sunday, Nov. 21): 432,000
8. “Christmas at Castle Hart” (Saturday, Nov. 27): 389,000
9. “A Very Merry Bridesmaid” (Saturday, Dec. 4): 384,000
10. “Christmas in Tahoe” (Sunday, Nov. 28): 369,000
11. “Christmas CEO” (Friday, Nov. 26): 364,000
12. “Christmas Together With You” (Saturday, Nov. 20): 355,000
13. “Open by Christmas” (Friday, Nov. 12): 348,000
14. “Boyfriends of Christmas Past” (Saturday, Oct. 23): 302,000
15. “The Santa Stakeout” (Sunday, Oct. 24): 299,000
16. “A Christmas Treasure” (Sunday, Nov. 7): 293,000
17. “Coyote Creek Christmas” (Saturday, Oct. 30): 292,000
18. “Making Spirits Bright” (Saturday, Nov. 27): 287,000
19. “You, Me & the Christmas Trees” (Friday, Oct. 22): 281,000
20. “Gingerbread Miracle” (Friday, Nov. 5): 262,000
21. “Nantucket Noel” (Friday, Nov. 19): 258,000
22. “Christmas Sail” (Sunday, Oct. 31): 257,000
23. “Eight Gifts of Hanukkah” (Friday, Dec. 3): 230,000
24. “Christmas in Harmony” (Friday, Oct. 29): 225,000
25. “A Holiday in Harlem” (Sunday, Nov. 14): 221,000

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Hallmark’s “Countdown to Christmas” continues Friday with “A Dickens of a Holiday!” starring Kristoffer Polaha and Brooke D’Orsay in a meet-cute over a high school production of “A Christmas Carol.” On Saturday, “A Royal Queens Christmas,” starring Megan Park and Julian Morris, looks to continue Hallmark Channel’s domination of Saturday-night TV during the holiday season. Hallmark even beats broadcast on Saturdays between 8 and 10 p.m. among women.

This weekend wraps with Sunday’s “Sister Swap: Christmas in the City,” with real-life siblings Ashley Williams and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. “C2C,” as its shorthanded at Crown Media, concludes the following weekend with “Sugar Plum Twist,” “The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls” and “‘Tis the Season to Be Merry.”