In keeping with a long-standing holiday tradition, the television networks filled the airwaves with Christmas-themed specials and movies this year. While some classics, like “It's a Wonderful Life†and “A Christmas Story†will not be broadcast until Monday, viewers have had plenty of holiday programming to choose from throughout the month.
Some of the highlights include ABC's Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “Christmas With Holly,†which drew 7.7 million total viewers on Dec. 9 and was the franchise's highest-rated presentation in the 18-to-49 category since moving to ABC last year. The stop-motion animated feature “It's a SpongeBob Christmas†also fared well, with 4.8 million total viewers tuning in for the Dec. 8 cable telecast on Nickelodeon, which outpolled the 3.6 million who watched the CBS broadcast on Nov. 23.
More recent entries in the holiday canon like CBS's “Elf on the Shelf: An Elf's Story,†an animated special from 2011 based on the similarly titled children's book, drew 6 million total viewers on Dec. 14 while “Elf,†the 2003 family film starring Will Ferrell, drew 5.1 million for CBS on Dec. 15.
Older animated classics attracted their typical levels of viewership. ABC garnered 5.8 million total viewers on Dec. 18 for “A Charlie Brown Christmas†and 5.6 million for “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town†on Dec. 11, while the CBS telecast of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer†on Dec. 14 had 6.6 million.
Musical specials also performed to expectations: CBS's “A Home for the Holidays With Rascal Flatts†on Dec. 19 tallied 5 million viewers while NBC's “Michael Bublé: Home for the Holidays†on Dec. 10 had 5.7 million. But they were both upstaged by “Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas†on NBC which drew 8.9 million on Dec. 3.
