Hallmark and Lifetime may be the longtime players in the TV holiday movie game, but relative newbie Netflix has a festive boast to make about its own Christmas content: “Around half” of Netflix subscribers “watched at least one” of the streaming service’s original holiday films during the 2019 holiday season and Netflix’s holiday titles are streamed in all 190 countries where the platform is available, a spokesperson for the streaming service tells TheWrap.
For context, Netflix said it had reached 167 million subscribers globally at the end of 2019, so this stat would apply to almost 50% of those accounts (it’s up to 195.15 million paid streaming customers as of Sept. 30, 2020). Reminder: Netflix counts a “view” as when someone watches a selected title for at least two minutes.
Netflix doesn’t have nearly as many original holiday movies under its belt as Hallmark or Lifetime (who are putting out 40 and 30 TV films, respectively, this season) but its library is growing each year, and it’s already known for a few “franchises,” like its beloved “A Christmas Prince” trilogy.
In 2019, the streaming service launched six new original holiday films, including the third installment in the popular “A Christmas Prince” franchise, “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby,” animated film “Klaus,” teen flick “Let It Snow,” rom-coms “Holiday in the Wild” and “The Knight Before Christmas,” and the comedy “Holiday Rush.”
This year, Netflix has seven new movies, including the Emma Roberts rom-com “Holidate,” the Forest Whitaker-led “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey,” the Vanessa Hudgens-starring sequel “The Princess Switch: Switched Again,” “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn’s family flick “The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two,” as well as “Operation Christmas Drop” and “Tudo Bem No Natal Que Vem”/”Just Another Christmas.”
Beyond those films, Netflix also has new holiday-themed TV shows like “Dash & Lily” and “Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas,” and the Christmas specials/series finales for “The Big Show Show” and “Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love,” plus several kids and family titles. You can see the full list here.