While the Hallmark+ streaming service launched around this time last year, the 2025 Christmas season will be the first time the service will actually get to show off its full potential to subscribers. Last year, the service didn’t get immediate access to any of the Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas titles, as they all aired on TV and then went straight to Peacock. The contract between Hallmark and Peacock no longer exists, allowing every new and old Countdown to Christmas movie to be available on Hallmark+, finally giving it the library that longtime Hallmark fans hoped it would have.
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In addition to having the entire library at its disposal, Hallmark+ has also introduced two brand new features at the start of this holiday season that will not just impact the Christmas movie experience for its users, but could prove to be innovative for streaming as a whole.
Perhaps the most important of the two big additions to Hallmark+ is the introduction of 24/7 channels, which we’ve seen more and more often from streamers (who are realizing people actually liked watching real television). Hallmark+ has launched beta versions of three channels, one of which is a full-time, ad-free Christmas movie marathon.
This is not the same as the scheduled marathon running all the time on the Hallmark Channel. That, unfortunately, doesn’t exist on the service. But this is the next best thing, and it comes with the added bonus of airing nonstop without commercials. The only real downside to the 24/7 channels is that, for now, they don’t include a schedule or information about whatever movie is playing. So if you turn it on halfway through a movie, and you want to go back and watch from the beginning, you’ll have to look up information about the people you’re seeing on the screen to find out what the movie is.
The 24/7 channel still has a kink or two to work out, but it does give Hallmark fans an alternative to the traditional channel marathon that they can easily access without a cable subscription. The other feature is more specific to Hallmark’s Christmas offerings, and makes it a lot easier for folks to navigate all of the different Countdown to Christmas movies.
This holiday season, with all of the films finally available on the same service, Hallmark+ has launched a collection with every official Countdown to Christmas title released since the marathon was given an actual title. Users can go through each year (2010-2025) and see every holiday original released in that year. It’s an easy way to find titles you’ve been trying to track down or discover something new.
And if you’re a completionist who missed a couple of Hallmark Christmas movies in recent years, this is the best way to figure out what you’ve got left. New releases each weekend are automatically added to the 2025 list the day after they air on TV.
While nothing can replace the feeling of turning on the Hallmark Channel and letting it run through November and December, Hallmark+ is making moves to still create an enjoyable and accessible experience.
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