The Top 20 Streaming And TV Christmas Movies In 2023

The film “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” is still one of the most popular Christmas movies even … [+] though it came out more than 20 years ago.

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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 aired on Netflix NFLX , but it drew a fraction of the viewership. Best. Christmas. Ever., starring Heather Graham and Brandy Norwood as high school frenemies who reunite at the holidays.

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

2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Older) 7.9 million

3. Home Alone (Older) 7.1 million

4. The Santa Clause (Older) 4.3 million

5. Four Christmases (Older) 3.5 million

6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Older) 2.5 million

7. Best. Christmas. Ever. (New) 2.3 million

8. The Holiday (Older) 2.3 million

9. Family Switch (New) 1.9 million

10. A Christmas Story (Older) 1.9 million

11. Candy Cane Lane (New) 1.9 million

12. It’s a Wonderful Life (Older) 1.7 million

13. Die Hard (Older) 1.4 million

14. Love Actually (Older) 1.4 million

15. The Polar Express (Older) 1.1 million

16. Genie (New) 934,000

17. The Naughty Nine (New) 834,000

18. Scrooged (Older) 795,000

19. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Older) 783,000

20. EXmas (New) 751,000