The film "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" is still one of the most popular Christmas movies even ... [+]
Buddy the Elf has been asking people their favorite color for two decades now, and somehow, it still never feels old.
Elf is once again the most popular Christmas movie of the season on TV, outpacing a bunch of old favorites and easily besting the handful of new films streaming across platforms. Samba TV, a provider of TV measurement services, tracked viewership between Nov. 10 and Dec. 10.
It found that eight of the top 10 most popular Christmas movies on linear TV and streaming platforms were all films that have been out for at least a year. In fact, some of the most popular are, like Elf, decades old.
Elf is even more popular this year than last. It recorded a 14% spike in viewership between November 10 and December 10 in 2023 compared with the same period in 2022, with 9 million U.S. households watching the film.
Elf held a firm lead over the No. 2 Christmas favorite, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which was seen by 7.9 million households during that same period. Placing third was Home Alone (released in 1990) at 7.1 million households. The Santa Clause (released in 1994) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (released six years later) both ranked in the top six.
The only new streaming holiday movie — Best. Christmas. Ever., starring Heather Graham and Brandy Norwood as high school frenemies who reunite at the holidays —aired on Netflix
Samba notes that “many of the holiday classics aired on a mix of linear TV networks and streaming platforms, which bolstered their popularity.” In other words, it’s hard to avoid Elf, Christmas Vacation and Alone on traditional TV right now; pick a channel, and you’re bound to see at least a commercial for the films.
New Releases Draw Younger Viewers
Though the top Christmas movies are universally beloved, there are some interesting deviations in the viewing patterns.
“The data shows interesting diversity as to who watches holiday movies,” said Ashwin Navin, Samba TV co-founder and CEO. “Comedy favorites like Elf and Christmas Vacation attract the biggest audiences overall, but they also tend to be older and less ethnically diverse. On the other hand, newer releases like Prime Video’s Candy Cane Lane draw younger and more ethnic audiences.”
The films themselves are more diverse. Black actors play leading roles in Best., Cane (which ranks 11th with 1.9 million households viewing) and Hulu/Disney+’s Dashing Through the Snow; there are barely any people of color in the top five most-watched Christmas movies, which also includes The Santa Clause and Four Christmases.
“Streaming platforms win in 2023 with large catalogs that satisfy diverse holiday tastes and have offered a mix of tried and true classics as well as new content,” said Navin.
Among the six new streaming movies in the top 20 most-watched, households with kids under age 19 overindexed. That was most notable for the film EXmas, which overindexed by 22% among households with kids 10-19.
Top 20 Christmas TV Movies In 2023
Here are the top 20 Christmas films on linear TV and streaming in 2023, according to Samba.
1. Elf (Older) 9 million
Where to watch: You can watch Elf on Hulu, Philo, Sling, Max, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.
2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Older) 7.9 million
Where to watch: You can watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on Sling, Max, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Philo and Roku Channel.
3. Home Alone (Older) 7.1 million
Where to watch: You can watch Home Alone on Disney+, YouTube, Sling, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Roku Channel and Philo.
4. The Santa Clause (Older) 4.3 million
Where to watch: You can watch The Santa Clause on Disney+.
5. Four Christmases (Older) 3.5 million
Where to watch: You can watch Four Christmases on Hulu, Philo, Sling, Amazon Prime Video, Max, YouTube and Roku Channel.
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Older) 2.5 million
Where to watch: You can watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas on fubo.
7. Best. Christmas. Ever. (New) 2.3 million
Where to watch: You can watch Best. Christmas. Ever. on Netflix.
8. The Holiday (Older) 2.3 million
Where to watch: You can watch The Holiday on Sling.
9. Family Switch (New) 1.9 million
Where to watch: You can watch Family Switch on Netflix.
10. A Christmas Story (Older) 1.9 million
Where to watch: You can watch A Christmas Story on Amazon Prime Video, Sling, Max, Hulu and YouTube.
11. Candy Cane Lane (New) 1.9 million
Where to watch: You can watch Candy Cane Lane on Amazon Prime Video.
12. It’s a Wonderful Life (Older) 1.7 million
Where to watch: You can watch It’s a Wonderful Life on Sling, Roku Channel, fuboTV, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and PLEX.
13. Die Hard (Older) 1.4 million
Where to watch: You can watch Die Hard on Sling.
14. Love Actually (Older) 1.4 million
Where to watch: You can watch Love Actually on Netflix, Philo, Roku Channel, AMC+, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.
15. The Polar Express (Older) 1.1 million
Where to watch: You can watch The Polar Express on Hulu, Philo, Sling, Amazon Prime Video, Max, YouTube and Roku Channel.
16. Genie (New) 934,000
Where to watch: You can watch Genie on Peacock.
17. The Naughty Nine (New) 834,000
Where to watch: You can watch The Naughty Nine on Disney+, Hulu, fuboTV and Sling.
18. Scrooged (Older) 795,000
Where to watch: You can watch Scrooged on Pluto, Sling, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Philo, YouTube and Roku Channel.
19. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Older) 783,000
Where to watch: You can watch The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+.
20. EXmas (New) 751,000
Where to watch: You can watch EXmas on Amazon Prime Video.
