NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� It has the makings of a blue Christmas for Leah. She's turning 30 on Christmas Eve, the same day she'll be a bridesmaid at her brother's wedding.
But wait 鈥� her childhood crush is back in town. Sounds like a movie premise guaranteed to tug at heartstrings, and no one knows how to do that this time of year like the Hallmark Channel.
That movie with Emily Osment in the starring role, 鈥淎 Very Merry Bridesmaid,鈥� and another premiere last weekend, 鈥淪ister Swap: Hometown Holidays,鈥� are part of an assembly line of holiday fare at Hallmark. Both reached nearly 3 million viewers, the Nielsen company said.
Hallmark was the most-watched entertainment cable channel last week, as it often is as the holidays approach. The network scores particularly well among its target audience of women ages 25-to-54.
Broadcast networks are rolling out their own holiday fare, with NBC's special surrounding the Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center the most popular last week.
NBC reached 5.3 million people for its live production of 鈥淎nnie!鈥� Live television musicals are losing their pull ever since becoming a semi-regular feature when a production of 鈥淭he Sound of Music鈥� surprised people by drawing more than 18 million viewers in 2013. 鈥淎nnie! Live鈥� did beat ABC's interview with Alec Baldwin on the 鈥淩ust鈥� movie set shooting, which was a direct competitor.
Meanwhile, Fox rode football to a win in the weekly ratings, averaging 6.4 million viewers in prime time last week. NBC had 6.1 million, CBS had 5.3 million, ABC had 2.9 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 930,000 and Telemundo had 900,000.
Fox News Channel led cable networks with an average of 2.42 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 2.05 million, Hallmark had 1.53 million, MSNBC had 1.16 million and Freeform had 1.02 million.
ABC's 鈥淲orld News Tonight鈥� led the evening news ratings race with an average of 8 million viewers. NBC's 鈥淣ightly News鈥� had 7.4 million and the 鈥淐BS Evening News鈥� had 5.2 million.
For the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 5, the 20 most-watched programs in prime time, their network and viewerships.
1. NFL Football: Denver at Kansas City, NBC, 17.51 million.
2. NFL Football: Dallas at New Orleans, Fox, 16.7 million.
3. 鈥淣FL Pregame,鈥� NBC, 12.12 million.
4. College Football: Michigan vs. Iowa, Fox, 11.66 million.
5. NFL Football: Seattle at Washington, ESPN, 10.9 million.
6. 鈥淣FL Postgame,鈥� Fox, 10.46 million.
7. 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� CBS, 10.3 million.
8. 鈥淐ollege Football Pregame,鈥� Fox, 9.74 million.
9. 鈥淣FL Pregame,鈥� Fox, 9.73 million.
10. 鈥淔ootball Night in America, Part 3,鈥� NBC, 9.34 million.
11. 鈥淣CIS,鈥� CBS, 7.34 million.
12. 鈥淵ellowstone,鈥� Paramount, 7.28 million.
13. 鈥淐ollege Football Postgame,鈥� CBS, 7.23 million.
14. 鈥淭he Voice鈥� (Tuesday), NBC, 6.76 million.
15. 鈥淵oung Sheldon,鈥� CBS, 6.59 million.
16. 鈥淭he Voice鈥� (Monday), NBC, 6.48 million.
17. 鈥淐hristmas in Rockefeller Center,鈥� NBC, 6.18 million.
18. 鈥淏lue Bloods,鈥� CBS, 5.81 million.
19. 鈥淪urvivor,鈥� CBS, 5.63 million.
20. 鈥淕hosts,鈥� CBS, 5.46 million.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
