Image: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Last year, Max led other platforms in the US by a wide margin in terms of the total demand for the holiday movies it had available to stream. This matches its leading position in terms of demand for its movie catalog. However, this year Max’s lead in demand for holiday content has shrunk considerably while other platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ have higher demand for holiday movies going into the festive season compared to last year.
Two factors seem to be driving the drop in demand for Max’s holiday catalog this year. First, several holiday movies available to stream on Max simply had higher demand last year. Notably, Shazam!, which had particularly high demand at the end of 2022 following the premiere of its spinoff Black Adam and ahead of the premiere of its sequel in March 2023. The movie had about half the demand this November compared to last year.
Second, the number of holiday movies on Max was smaller in November this year compared to last year. A few holiday classics that the platform had last year like How the Grinch Stole Christmas are no longer available to stream on Max. In fact, so far in December How the Grinch Stole Christmas is the most in-demand holiday movie in the US and not available on any of these streamers.
Other platforms are catching up with investments in holiday movies. Hulu has seen the most growth in this regard. Even though the platform still has some of the lowest demand for holiday movies, the total demand for holiday movies on the platform in November this year was greater than in December 2022, traditionally the month where holiday demand reaches its peak. As of November, Hulu had overtaken Paramount+ with more demand for its holiday movies. The addition of Die Hard and The Muppet Christmas Carol has helped beef up the platform’s holiday catalog going into December this year.
Disney+ doesn’t have a huge Christmas catalog but it features two of the five most in-demand Christmas movies so far this season - Home Alone and The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is not only the original Home Alone movie but the entire franchise that forms the cornerstone of the Disney+ holiday catalog.
Every year there is a big spike in the average demand for holiday movies that continues through the end of the year. From the first week of December to the final week of the year in 2022 the average demand for holiday movies grew by over 50%. If that pattern holds again this year there is a lot of growth yet to happen in demand for holiday movies. What remains to be seen is whether all platforms will experience a similar boost in audience attention on holiday content as Christmas gets closer or if some have a Christmas surprise in store for the final weeks of the year.
