Hallmark Channel's 'Countdown to Christmas' Dominates Cable TV Ratings Over Weekend

Hallmark Channel dominated cable TV ratings this past weekend as its powerhouse seasonal event "Countdown to Christmas" continued to draw large audiences with its new, original movies and round-the-clock holiday programming. The original movies "The Mistletoe Promise" (Saturday, November 5) and "A Perfect Christmas" (Sunday, November 6) catapulted the network to be #1 among all cable networks on Saturday and Sunday in Total Day among Household and Women 25-54 ratings.

The network also set ratings and delivery records for the second consecutive week as new original world premiere movies "The Mistletoe Promise" and "A Perfect Christmas" respectively became the network's first and second highest-rated and most-watched original movie premieres of 2016.

Event-to-date, Hallmark CHANNEL is significantly outpacing last year's top-rated "Countdown to Christmas" among all demographics, most noticeably with increases of +38% among Adults 18-49, +36% among Women 18-49, +21% among Women 25-54 and +26% among Adults 25-54.

Sister network Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' annual holiday programming event the "Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas" also scored with the new, original world premiere movie "Love Always, Santa" (Sunday, November 6), which became the network's most-watched original movie premiere of 2016 among Women 25-54.

"The Mistletoe Promise" and "A Perfect Christmas" are part of Hallmark Channel's top-rated seasonal franchise "Countdown to Christmas," which will premiere 19 all-new original movies this holiday season. "Love Always, Santa" is part of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' "Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas" annual programming event, which combined with "Countdown to Christmas", reached 75 million viewers in 2015.

Key Nielsen Highlights (L+SD) for Hallmark Channel

· "The Mistletoe Promise" averaged a 3.3 HH rating and 3.9 million Total Viewers

· Original movie was the #1 rated ad-supported cable program of the day as well as the #1 rated movie of the week among HH and W25-54

· "The Mistletoe Promise" scored in its 8-10 p.m. time period, propelling Hallmark CHANNEL to be the highest-rated and most-watched network among all demographics (HH, Women 18-49, W25-54, Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and Total Viewers)

· "The Mistletoe Promise" was the week's 2nd most social original movie premiere across broadcast or cable on Twitter

· Premiere reached nearly 5.5 million unduplicated viewers, marking the largest unduplicated audience of any Hallmark CHANNEL original movie premiere in 2016

· "A Perfect Christmas" averaged a 3.0 HH rating and 3.5 million Total Viewers

· Premiere was the #1 rated movie of the day among HH and W25-54

Key Nielsen Highlights (L+SD) for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

· "Love Always, Santa" averaged a 1.1 HH rating

· Premiere was Sunday's most social original movie premiere across Broadcast or Cable on Twitter

Source: Nielsen, November 1-6, 2016; (10/28-11/6/16 vs. 10/30-11/8/15) Live+SD impressions, M-Su 6a-6a, excludes Fri 6a-10p on 10/28/16 and Fri 6a-8p on 10/30/15; Nielsen Social Content Ratings.

Image courtesy of Hallmark Channel

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