Cable TV, Netflix Offer Stockingful of Christmas Movies

Actor Jessica Lowndes stars in Hallmark Channel's movie "Christmas at Pemberley Manor"

Like glinting tinsel in a sea of dark TV dramas, the number of new, feel-good Christmas movies offered by U.S. cable TV networks and the global streaming service Netflix is off the charts. Among roughly five dozen original offerings this season are “Hometown Christmas,” “Christmas at Graceland,” “My Christmas Inn” and “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas.”

Demand was so high many had to be filmed in summer heat, with fake snow and digital winter effects, according to Reuters.

“Everything has blown up. I can’t believe how much Christmas stuff is going on this year and next year,” said Andrew Gernhard, whose company, Synthetic Cinema International, has produced movies for the Hallmark and Lifetime cable channels and others.

These types of films, which promise snow, mistletoe and a love story, used to be largely limited to networks like Hallmark and Lifetime. This year Netflix Inc  is releasing three new Christmas romances, Walt Disney Co’s Freeform network is airing three of its own, and the TV One channel has two on its schedule.

For networks, the movies are relatively inexpensive. A typical holiday film costs roughly $1 million to $3 million, far less than the $10 million that networks can spend on a single episode of premium television.

Gernhard believes Christmas movies are popular because they offer an escape from the real world and the guarantee of a happy ending.

TV’s Christmas rush started before Halloween, when the Hallmark Channel kicked off its largest programing slate for the holiday with “Christmas at Pemberley Manor” on Oct. 27.

Filmmakers shoot Christmas movies throughout the year, Gernhard said, partly because the quaint small towns that provide a backdrop are booked with visitors during the real-life holiday season.

The effort pays off with audiences.

In 2017, Hallmark Channel’s Christmas-themed lineup made it the most-watched cable network in the fourth quarter among women ages 25 to 54. This year’s “Pemberley Manor” debuted with 3.6 million viewers, ranking as the highest-rated non-sports program on cable that day.

Hallmark is releasing a record 37 Christmas films this season across the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Lifetime more than doubled its output this year to 14.