 Logo used since 2018 | |
| Network | The Family Channel (1996–1997) Fox Family (1998–2000) ABC Family (2001–2015) Freeform (2016–present) Disney Channel (2017–2018) Disney XD (2017–2018) Disney Jr. (2017–2018) ABC (2017–2018) |
|---|---|
| Launched | December 1, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-12-01) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Formerly known as | The Family Channel's 25 Days of Christmas (1996–1997) Fox Family's 25 Days of Christmas (1998–2000) ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas (2001–2015) |
| Format | Christmas-based films and programming, along with some non-seasonal films |
| Running time | Daily and nightly, annually from December 1 to 25 |
| Original language | English |
| Official website | Official site |
Freeform's25 Days of Christmas is an American annual seasonal event ofChristmas programming broadcast during the month of December by the U.S. cable networkFreeform. Launched on December 1, 1996, it consists primarily ofreruns ofChristmas-themed television specials, theatrical films (some of which are not related to Christmas), and originally producedtelevision films, which air throughout the day and night from December 1 through Christmas Day, preempting the channel's regular lineup.
25 Days of Christmas programming often attracts major surges in viewership for Freeform, with higher-profile film airings often attracting 3–4 million viewers or more. Freeform has described the block, along with its companion October block the31 Nights of Halloween, as itstentpole.[1]
The event was first held in 1996, and has been an annual fixture of the channel through its various incarnations, including The Family Channel, Fox Family, ABC Family, and Freeform. The brand covers airings of classic holiday specials as well as new Christmas-themed television movies each year; generally few of the network's original series air during the time period, outside of Christmas-themed episodes and contractually obligatedChristian Broadcasting Network programs (such asThe 700 Club). Since 2006, the lineup has also included airings of general, family films (usually majorblockbuster filmfranchises) that Freeform holds rights to, which included theHarry Potter films until January 2017, and otherWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures films. In 2007, the block was extended to November with aCountdown to 25 Days of Christmas block.
For 2017-2018, Disney extended the 25 Days of Christmas branding to holiday programming shown by Freeform's sister properties in theDisney-ABC Television Group, includingABC,Disney Channel,Disney XD, andDisney Jr.[2][3]
For most of the block's run, fourteen specials from theRankin/Bass Productions library of Christmas specials (excluding the originalRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer andFrosty the Snowman specials, both of which aired onCBS from 1972 and 1969 respectively through 2023) served as the centerpiece of the 25 Days of Christmas. Freeform lost the rights to twelve of those specials (which includedThe Year Without a Santa Claus), along with other content whose right was held byWarner Bros. Discovery and its predecessor companies such asElf,The Polar Express andNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, toAMC after the 2017 Christmas season to serve as the linchpin of its new "Best Christmas Ever" schedule;[4] WBD also carries that content on its ownAll I Watch for Christmas and Christmas Maximus blocks on the WBD-owned formerTurner networks.[5] Freeform still airsSanta Claus is Comin' to Town andThe Little Drummer Boy In May 2019, Freeform announced it had acquired the cable rerun rights to the Rudolph and Frosty specials, reuniting the four pre-1974 Rankin/Bass programs on the same network.[6] CBS continued to hold thefree-to-air rerun rights to both specials untilNBC retained the rights to the 2024 airings.[7] Freeform and ABC also held rights to theCharlie Brown holiday specials untilApple TV+ acquired the exclusive rights to the franchise in 2020[8] (later sublicensing some of the specials toPBS for one-time airings that year).[9]
In November 2022, Freeform sister networkABC launched 25 Days of Christmas Past, afree ad-supported streaming television pop-up channel featuring an abbreviated selection of original films produced for the event.[10] The FAST service does not include the four Rankin-Bass specials, asNBCUniversal, which owns the underlying copyrights, did not license any streaming rights to those specials to ABC/Freeform nor CBS.[11] The FAST channel did not return for 2024, after ABC withdrew its streaming apps from the market and downsized its remaining FAST offerings.[12]
In 2018, Freeform rebranded the graphics for its 25 Days of Christmas event to align with the channel's then-current branding, which had debuted that same year. In 2023, Freeform collaborated with the design agency ROVE to update the 25 Days of Christmas graphics once again, making them consistent with the channel's latest logo and branding introduced the previous year.[13]
Freeform struck an agreement with NBCUniversal, expanding on its 2019 licensing agreement, to bring more specials and films owned by that company to the 25 Days of Christmas block in 2025, includingThe Legend of Frosty the Snowman and the original version ofMiracle on 34th Street.[14]
Nearly every year since25 Days of Christmas debuted in 1996, at least one new holiday-related TV film has been produced (excluding 2002, 2014, and 2015). Starting in 2005, two TV films have been produced. In 2007, three films were created for the block, due to the popularity of the previous year's films.[20]
As of 2025, the following acquired programs are included on the 25 Days of Christmas:[14]
In 2007, due to popular ratings from the previous year, ABC Family launched the first official countdown to the programming block, which began on November 21. Although this was the first official early start,[20] in previous years holiday programming had unofficially begun during the last week of November, showing mostly older original films, some of which pertained to Christmas and some of which did not.[27]Countdown to the 25 Days of Christmas returned in 2008 on November 16.[28] In 2018, Freeform announced that the block would be renamed toKickoff to Christmas, and would last throughout the whole month of November.[29] This was reprised in 2019.[30]
In 2023, Freeform abandoned the Countdown/Kickoff block in favor of a "30 Days of Disney" event, featuring films mostly from the Walt Disney Company's animated features library, to bridge the entire month of November between the 31 Nights of Halloween and the 25 Days of Christmas. Christmas movies are sparingly featured.[31] The 25 Days of Christmas Past FAST channel launched in early November.[10]
In 2011, it started later in the month, on November 20.[32] In 2012 the countdown began at an earlier date of November 18.[23]
TheCountdown to the 25 Days of Christmas ran again in 2014. In 2014 the countdown event which started on Sunday, November 23 was even with previous years. The highest rated programs of the eight-day event wereFinding Nemo at 1.8 million viewers,Despicable Me at 2 million, and an airing ofThe Hunger Games at 1.7 million. Other highlights includedRatatouille on Thanksgiving night which garnered 1 million,Cars 2 gained 1 million, andBrave which had 1.8 million tune in.[33]
TheCountdown to 25 Days of Christmas schedule was released on October 29, 2015. The 2015 lineup included family classics such asToy Story,Finding Nemo,Jingle All the Way,Monsters, Inc.,Ratatouille,The Incredibles,Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the cable premiere ofPlanes. A Monday, November 30 airing ofThe Polar Express was watched by 1.5 million viewers, the highest rating of this year'sCountdown.[34] A Saturday, November 28 airing ofWreck-It Ralph was also watched by 1.5 million viewers.[35] The network premiere ofPlanes on Thanksgiving night garnered only 0.699 million viewers.[36]
TheCountdown to 25 Days of Christmas schedule was released on October 22, 2016. In 2016, Freeform's firstCountdown to 25 Days of Christmas ran from Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2016, to December 25, 2016. The 2016 lineup includes family movies such asToy Story,Toy Story 2,Toy Story That Time Forgot,Brave,Tangled,Happy Feet Two,Tooth Fairy,Another Cinderella Story,Mulan,Wreck-It Ralph,Matilda,Little Rascals,Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, andDespicable Me. Freeform also announced the network premiere ofThe Odd Life of Timothy Green,The Boxtrolls, andA Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits. The holiday movies in the 2016 Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas included:Fred Claus,The Holiday (Freeform network premiere),Scrooged,Jingle All the Way,National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, andDeck the Halls.[37]
The 2016 ratings where on par with previous years. The highest airing of the countdown was the November 26 airing ofTangled, gaining 1.461M viewers.Despicable Me gained 1.2M on November 25.[38]
TheCountdown to 25 Days of Christmas schedule was released on October 12, 2017. In 2017, Freeform'sCountdown to 25 Days of Christmas ran from November 18, 2017, to November 30, 2017. The 2017 lineup included family movies such asThe Incredibles,Despicable Me,Harry Potter,Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,Hook,Dennis the Menace,Matilda,Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, andThe Boxtrolls. Freeform also announced the network premiere ofInside Out andSnow Day. The holiday movies in the 2017 Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas included:Home Alone,Elf,National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation,Four Christmases (Freeform network premiere),'Twas the Night Before Christmas,Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups,Frosty's Winter Wonderland,Jack Frost,The Year Without a Santa Claus,A Christmas Carol,A Dennis the Menace Christmas,Richie Rich's Christmas Wish,Jack Frost,Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July,Arthur Christmas,Rudolph's Shiny New Year,Eloise at Christmastime, andThe Nightmare Before Christmas.
On May 15, 2018, Freeform announced that theCountdown to 25 Days of Christmas would be renamedKickoff to Christmas for November 2018.[29] The 2017Kickoff to Christmas schedule was released on October 10, 2018. The 2018Kickoff to Christmas lineup runs from November 1 to 30, 2018, and includes films such asJumanji,The Good Dinosaur,Inside Out,Norm of the North,Ratatouille,Yogi Bear,Frozen,Babe,Meet the Robinsons,The Incredibles,Toy Story,Storks,Paddington,Zootopia, and others.[39]
As aforementioned, this year marked the first time that the originalRudolph andFrosty specials aired on an American cable television network. Premieres ofFantastic Mr. Fox,Despicable Me 2 andThe BFG aired during the month of November.
The network premiere ofThe Polar Express was watched by more than 4 million viewers.[40] An encore airing on December 9 was watched by a record 5 million viewers. It became the most watched programming to ever air on ABC Family.[41] The debut airing of the film,Santa Baby, was watched by 4.7 million viewers.[42]
The first week of programming averaged 2.3 million viewers.[43]
In 2008, the first week of programming attracted 2.7 million total viewers.[43] The entire lineup had an average 2.5 million viewers.[44][45]
The third annual "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" was watched by 1.2 million viewers. The network premiere ofThe Santa Clause 3 was watched by 1.6 million viewers, while an airing ofHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was watched by 1.5 million viewers.[46] The premiere ofSanta Baby 2: Christmas Maybe was watched by 3.8 million total viewers.[45]
The fourth annual "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" was watched by 2.1 million viewers.[47] The lineup began its first week with record breaking 3 million average viewers.[48] The December 12 premiere ofChristmas Cupid was watched by a total of 3.4 million viewers.[49] Total viewers for 2010 broke records, averaging 2.8 million viewers.[50] An airing ofHow the Grinch Stole Christmas drew 1.3 million viewers.[50]
The first week of the 25 Days of Christmas was watched by an average of 2.2 million viewers, down 27% from last year.[51] During the second week, viewers increased to 2.4 million, thanks to the premiere of12 Dates of Christmas.[52] However, this was still down 30% from the previous year.[52] Overall viewers for the 2011 lineup averaged 2.3 million viewers.[53]
In 2012, the programming block had its most ever total viewers in its debut week, with 2.9 million.[54] An airing of the filmDr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas on December 2 became the lineup's most watched program ever, with 5.4 million viewers.[55][56] Other notable airings included, the network premiere ofDespicable Me, watched by over 4.3 million viewers,[57] and a Christmas Eve airing ofThe Santa Clause 2, watched by 3.9 million viewers.[58] The programming block averaged 2.8 million viewers for 2012, on pace with 2010.[56]
In its 17th year, 25 Days of Christmas poweredABC Family as the top cable network in primetime among women 18–34. The entire line-up averaged 2.5 million viewers. A Friday, December 5 airing ofDr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas was watched by 3.7 million. The network premiere ofToy Story That Time Forgot gained 3.4 million while an airing of the classicToy Story 3 gained 2.7 million viewers.[59] The highest rated airing ofElf gained 3.5 million viewers while the highest rated airing ofNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation gained 3.2 million. An airing of theTim Allen classicThe Santa Clause with limited commercials gained 2.9 million viewers.
Christmas Eve ratings on the network saw ratings ofThe Polar Express at 2.2 million,Home Alone at 2.7 million, andNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation andElf each at more than 4 million.[60]
The holiday airings ofPretty Little Liars gained 2 million viewers whileChasing Life gained 1.2 million. The comedies ofMelissa and Joey andBaby Daddy gained 1 million and 800,000 viewers respectively.[61]
In 2015 the highest rated event was an airing ofElf on December 5 at 3.7mil, and another airing on December 24 at 3.1mil. Ratings on Christmas Eve were down on the network due to increased competition from other networks.Elf proved once again to draw large audiences. On December 1The Polar Express gained 2.4mil, an airing ofDr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas gained 2.4mil, 2.7mil, and 2.9mil on multiple dates. The highest airing ofThe Santa Clause was December 2 gaining 2.6mil.[62]
An airing of theToy Story trilogy on December 13–14 gained 2mil, 2.5mil, and 1.4mil. Christmas Eve on the network wasNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at 2.4mil, and Elf at 3.1mil. Christmas Day was weak, averaging less than 2mil per airing.[62]
The 25 Days of Christmas schedule was released in late October byFreeform. While notable absences includeJim Carrey'sHow the Grinch Stole Christmas,Home Alone, and the second and thirdThe Santa Clause films, the schedule still includes many classics. The schedule includes 25 days of classics like,Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation,The Santa Clause,Tim Burton'sThe Nightmare Before Christmas,Jack Frost, Disney'sA Christmas Carol,The Polar Express,The Holiday,Elf,Jingle All The Way,Scrooged,Deck the Halls,Toy Story,Frozen, andHappy Feet.[63]
2016 ratings of 25 Days of Christmas were down from previous years. The highest rated airing was December 4, whenElf gained 2.5M viewers. Other airings ofElf gained 2.1M, 1.8M, and 2.0M. AToy Story marathon on December 10 gained 1.3M, 1.5m, and 1.4m. An airing ofFrozen gained 2.3M on December 17.[38]
Christmas Eve on the network sawThe Polar Express at 1.4M,The Santa Clause at 1.7M, Elf at 2.7M, andNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at 2.8M viewers.[38]
Alongside its traditional lineup of acquired and Disney films, the lineup for 2017 included the new original filmAngry Angel, starringJason Biggs andBrenda Song, and the new specialDecorating Disney: Holiday Magic, which documented how Disney's theme parks are prepared for the holiday season. On October 31, 2017, it was announced that the25 Days of Christmas branding would also be used for holiday programming on sister propertiesABC (including new seasons of the seasonal miniseriesThe Great Christmas Light Fight andThe Great American Baking Show, as well as its other traditional specials),Disney Channel (includingDisney Parks Presents a Disney Channel Holiday Celebration),Disney Jr. (includingThe Lion Guard special "Timon and Pumbaa's Christmas"), andDisney XD (Milo Murphy's Law: "A Christmas Peril", andStar vs. the Forces of Evil: "Stump Day"/"Holiday Spellcial").[2][64]
Nielsen estimated that at least 150 million viewers watched part of a program on Freeform during the event.[65]
Over the first two weeks after Thanksgiving, average viewership of feature films on Freeform fell by 36% over 2017, due primarily to its loss of several major mainstays of the25 Days lineup, such as theHarry Potter film series (whose cable rights moved toSyfy andUSA Network earlier in the year)[66][67] as well as various Warner Bros.-owned films and specials (includingElf andNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and 12 Rankin/Bass specials) that were acquired byAMC for a competing holiday lineup.[68][65] The original movieLife-Size 2 (a sequel to a2000 ABC made-for-TV film, starringTyra Banks) was seen by 1.26 million viewers.[69]
This year's airing includesThe Muppet Christmas Carol as well as the premiere ofPrancer Returns,Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas,Perfect Holiday,Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,Frosty the Snowman andSame Time, Next Christmas.[70]
This seasonal airing includesIt's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie,Christmas with the Kranks,Deck the Halls (2006 film),Snow (2004 film),Snow 2: Brain Freeze,Jingle All the Way 2, andThe Preacher's Wife as well as the network's premieres ofThe Grinch,The Night Before,Almost Christmas,The Star andBlack Nativity.[71]
This year's airing includesKung Fu Panda Holiday andHome Alone 3 as well as the network's premiere ofMr. Magoo's Christmas Carol,Walt Disney Animation Studios'Frozen II and a short film,Olaf's Frozen Adventure.
The 2024 version of the block reached 32 million viewers over its course, ranking first among entertainment cable networks in that block's time span.[14]
