Hallmark’s Cheesy Christmas Movies Are Already Dominating Cable This Holiday Season — Ratings Watch
Christmas + romance + cute puppies = A recipe for ratings success at Hallmark. The network known for its sappy made-for-TV movies hit it big over the Thanksgiving weekend with five nights of ratings gifts — making for its biggest week in network history. Among total viewers in cable, only “The Walking Dead” (and its companion “Talking Dead”) and NFL football did better than Hallmark’s Friday, Saturday, and Sunday movies.
The film “Switched for Christmas,” starring Candace Cameron Bure as identical twin sisters who swap lives for the holiday, became the most-watched telecast in Hallmark Channel history on Sunday night. The film averaged 5.8 million viewers after three days of DVR and video on demand usage. Mark Deklin, Eion Bailey, and Happy the Dog — see, it ticked all the Hallmark boxes — also starred.
Close behind, Saturday’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation, “The Christmas Train,” averaged 5.6 million viewers — beating the four broadcast networks on the night. The movie was simulcast on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel, giving it an unduplicated audience of 8.5 million viewers. Dermot Mulroney, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Danny Glover and Joan Cusack starred in the film, about a journalist who “embarks on a cross-country train ride at Christmas having no idea this journey will take him into the rugged terrain of his own heart.”
Overall, thanks to a five-night Thanksgiving event, Hallmark enjoyed its most-watched week of all time, across all demographics. Hallmark knows its sweet spot: It’s been premiering this year’s original holiday movies since the end of October, as part of its “Countdown to Christmas” campaign.
Meanwhile, the ninth week of the season (Nov. 20-26) saw several shows hop on to Xfinity’s VOD ranker, including Starz’s “The Girlfriend Experience,” NBC’s “The Brave” and CBS’ “Seal Team.”
Here are this week’s rankers:
Adults 18-49 ranker, week ending Nov. 26, 2017:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+3 RATING |
WATCHED RATING |
|
1 |
NFL Sunday Night Football: Steelers vs. Packers NBC |
6.0 |
6.0 |
|
2 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
5.3 |
3.6 |
|
3 |
NFL Thursday Special: Redskins vs. Giants NBC |
5.1 |
5.1 |
|
4 |
This Is Us NBC |
3.8 |
2.5 |
|
5 |
Young Sheldon CBS |
3.6 |
2.6 |
|
tie |
NFL Monday Night Football: Falcons vs. Seahawks ESPN |
3.6 |
3.6 |
|
7 |
The Good Doctor ABC |
3.1 |
1.8 |
|
tie |
The Big Bang Theory CBS |
3.1 |
2.9 |
|
9 |
DreamWorks Trolls Holiday NBC |
2.4 |
1.5 |
|
10 |
Mom CBS |
2.2 |
1.8 |
|
11 |
Survivor CBS |
2.1 |
1.4 |
|
tie |
The Voice (Monday) NBC |
2.1 |
1.7 |
|
13 |
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving ABC |
2.0 |
1.7 |
|
tie |
60 Minutes CBS |
2.0 |
1.9 |
|
tie |
Chicago Med NBC |
2.0 |
1.3 |
|
tie |
The Voice (Tuesday) NBC |
2.0 |
1.7 |
|
17 |
NCIS CBS |
1.8 |
1.4 |
|
tie |
S.W.A.T. CBS |
1.8 |
1.1 |
|
tie |
Life In Pieces CBS |
1.8 |
1.3 |
|
20 |
The Middle ABC |
1.7 |
1.3 |
|
tie |
Dancing With The Stars (Monday) ABC |
1.7 |
1.4 |
|
tie |
Criminal Minds CBS |
1.7 |
1.0 |
|
23 |
Dancing With The Stars (Tuesday) ABC |
1.6 |
1.3 |
|
tie |
Talking Dead AMC |
1.6 |
1.3 |
|
tie |
Bull CBS |
1.6 |
1.1 |
|
tie |
Seal Team CBS |
1.6 |
1.1 |
|
tie |
How The Grinch Stole Christmas NBC |
1.6 |
1.3 |
| Adults 18-49; ratings points. Source: Nielsen Media Research |
Total viewers ranker, week ending Nov. 26, 2017:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+3 |
WATCHED |
|
1 |
NFL Sunday Night Football: Steelers vs. Packers NBC |
19.06 |
18.96 |
|
2 |
NFL Thursday Special: Redskins vs. Giants NBC |
17.01 |
16.91 |
|
3 |
The Good Doctor ABC |
15.06 |
9.97 |
|
4 |
NCIS CBS |
15.04 |
12.54 |
|
5 |
Young Sheldon CBS |
14.77 |
11.43 |
|
6 |
This Is Us NBC |
13.20 |
9.34 |
|
7 |
The Big Bang Theory CBS |
12.89 |
12.13 |
|
8 |
60 Minutes CBS |
12.68 |
12.26 |
|
9 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
11.88 |
8.29 |
|
10 |
Bull CBS |
11.87 |
8.99 |
|
11 |
Dancing With The Stars (Monday) ABC |
11.34 |
10.15 |
|
12 |
NFL Monday Night Football: Falcons vs. Seahawks ESPN |
10.89 |
10.82 |
|
13 |
NCIS: New Orleans CBS |
10.67 |
8.00 |
| 14 |
The Voice (Monday) NBC |
10.50 |
9.15 |
|
tie |
The Voice (Tuesday) NBC |
10.50 |
9.36 |
|
16 |
Dancing With The Stars (Tuesday) ABC |
10.42 |
9.20 |
|
17 |
NCIS: Los Angeles CBS |
10.00 |
7.64 |
|
18 |
Mom CBS |
9.86 |
7.89 |
|
19 |
Chicago Med NBC |
9.46 |
6.19 |
|
20 |
Survivor CBS |
9.36 |
7.42 |
|
21 |
Seal Team CBS |
9.29 |
6.94 |
|
22 |
Criminal Minds NBC |
9.08 |
6.31 |
|
23 |
Madam Secretary CBS |
8.55 |
5.82 |
|
24 |
S.W.A.T. CBS |
8.54 |
5.84 |
|
25 |
DreamWorks Trolls Holiday NBC |
8.06 |
5.37 |
| Total viewers; in millions. Source: Nielsen Media Research |
Here is this week’s Xfinity On Demand ranker:
Top 20 TV Series, Nov. 20-26, 2017:
|
RANK |
SHOW |
NETWORK |
|
1 |
This Is Us |
NBC |
|
2 |
The Good Doctor |
ABC |
|
3 |
Game of Thrones |
HBO |
|
4 |
Shameless |
Showtime |
|
5 |
Curb Your Enthusiasm |
HBO |
|
6 |
The Walking Dead |
AMC/AMC Premiere |
|
7 |
Outlander |
Starz |
|
8 |
The Simpsons |
Fox/FXX |
|
9 |
Chrisley Knows Best |
USA |
|
10 |
Young Sheldon |
CBS |
|
11 |
Family Guy |
Fox/Adult Swim |
|
12 |
The Big Bang Theory |
CBS |
|
13 |
Will & Grace |
NBC |
|
14 |
S.W.A.T. |
CBS |
|
15 |
Dancing With The Stars |
ABC |
|
16 |
The Girlfriend Experience |
Starz |
|
17 |
The Gifted |
Fox |
|
18 |
The Voice |
NBC |
|
19 |
The Brave |
NBC |
|
20 |
Seal Team |
CBS |
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