Hallmark Channel’s Most Popular Movies of 2025: Ratings Reveal Big Surprises

The results are in! Unsurprisingly, Hallmark Channel crushed the Christmas ratings again in 2025. The beloved network was the most-watched entertainment cable channel among women ages 18+ during the entire fourth quarter of 2025 for the 12th consecutive year, per a press release from Hallmark.

But the network’s 2025 ratings have also revealed some seriously surprising stats, from the movies that were most-watched to the continued breadth of Hallmark’s popularity. And spoiler alert — the number one movie of the year WASN’T a Christmas movie!

Hallmark Channel’s Top 5 is Blend of Early 2025 Rom-Coms & New Christmas Movies

Hallmark Channel ran its uber-popular Countdown to Christmas with non-stop original holiday fare from late October through December, but for the first time in a long time, its number one movie was not a Christmas movie!

February’s “An Unexpected Valentine,” starring Hallmark queen Lacey Chabert with Robert Buckley, was the top-rated Hallmark of the year, with 1.8 million viewers, according to Forbes. That aligns with our recent assessment that 2025 would go down as the year Buckley became a true Hallmark hunk in fans’ eyes, thanks to his top-tier rom-coms (“Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper!” is also a gem) and adorable antics at his first-ever Hallmark event, the Hallmark Christmas Experience in Kansas City.

Hallmark didn’t release exact viewership numbers for its movies, but according to Forbes, the number two movie of the year was another fun surprise: Rachel Boston and Brendan Penny’s Christmas movie “The More the Merrier” drew in 1.77 million viewers on Black Friday.

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Another non-Christmas movie came in third place for the year, according to Forbes — “The Reluctant Royal,” which fan-favorite Andrew Walker developed, produced, and starred in. Filmed in Ireland with co-star Emilie de Raven, the movie attracted a whopping 1.75 million viewers in March.

Coming in fourth place for 2025 was “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas” starring Nikki DeLoach, Kristoffer Polaha, Sharon Lawrence, Eliza Hayes Maher, James Denton, and over a dozen country music stars. On the Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend, the charming holiday movie nabbed 1.74 million viewers, per Forbes.

Rounding out the top five, Lacey Chabert strikes again — right alongside Andrew Walker! Their Christmas movie, the campy and heartwarming “She’s Making a List,” was “watched live by 1.6 million people,” per Forbes.

What Other Hallmark Channel Christmas Movies Fared the Best in 2025?

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As far as Christmas movies go, many other 2025 flicks were right behind “She’s Making a List,” with their number of viewers — particularly in the key demographic of ages 18-49 — hovering around the 1.5 to 1.6 million mark, according to TV Ratings Guide.

For instance, “Three Wisest Men” — starring Walker, Tyler Hynes, and Paul Campbell — had 1.536 million viewers. Hallmark’s second NFL-themed movie, “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story,” nabbed 1.516 million viewers, and Hynes’ other holiday movie, “Christmas Above the Clouds” with Erin Krakow, brought in 1.506 million viewers.

TV Ratings Guide reported that other strong performers were the Hannukah-and-Christmas movie “Oy! To The World” starring Brooke D’Orsay and Jake Epstein, with 1.356 million viewers 18-49, and that it nearly tied for viewership with Erin Cahill and Paul Campbell’s “Christmas at the Catnip Cafe,” which was the cat’s meow for 1.355 million fans.

For comparison’s sake, the number one Hallmark movie of 2024 was “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story,” starring Tyler Hynes and Hunter King, and 2023’s top movie was “A Merry Scottish Christmas” starring Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf.

Cable Ratings Continue to Fall, But Hallmark Channel’s Still Striking Gold

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Although Hallmark struck gold again with its rom-coms and Christmas movies in 2025, Hallmark Channel’s ratings were down overall by 24%, according to Variety. That’s a trend shared by almost every cable network as viewers cut the cord and switch to streaming.

Nevertheless, Hallmark said it continued its reign as “the most-watched network in Total Day among Households.” Notably, of the Top 50 most-watched cable TV movies of 2025 among women 18+ and all households, Hallmark produced and aired every single one. All of them can be streamed on Hallmark+.