For many people, Thanksgiving has always meant turkey and football. But this year's cable ratings show that Hallmark films have crept onto the list of the November holiday's must-haves. The network's movie Christmas at the Plaza, which stars Ryan Paevey (ex-Nathan West, General Hospital), was the most-watched cable program of the evening -- and even beat the ratings for ESPN's broadcast of the Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State college football game.
According to the Nielson ratings, Christmas at the Plaza topped the night's cable chart with a 0.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 3 million viewers. ESPN's college football game came second in the night with a 0.4 rating and a 1.35 million viewer audience.
As Soap Central previously reported, Christmas at the Plaza follows actress Elizabeth Henstridge as Jessica, an archival historian enmeshed in a declining romantic relationship who is hired to create an exhibition honoring the history of Christmas at the Plaza Hotel. It's there where she meets Nick (Paevey), a handsome decorator who's been commissioned to deck out the iconic landmark. When the two are paired together to prepare the exhibition, they wind up enjoying a host of holiday traditions and find themselves falling for each other. Tensions rise as Jessica is forced to figure out her romantic priorities and choose who she'll ultimately spend Christmas at the Plaza with.
For the full Thanksgiving 2019 ratings picture, click here. And for more Hallmark fun from Paevey, be sure to check out the network's upcoming 2020 Winterfest Preview Special, which will be co-hosted by the actor and All My Children alum Lacey Chabert (ex-Bianca Montgomery), on Saturday, December 28, at 10PM/9PM C.
This isn't the first time that soap star-related projects have been a ratings win for Hallmark. Alison Sweeney's (ex-Sami Brady, Days of our Lives) 2016 Hallmark film The Irresistible Blueberry Farm pulled in record debut ratings, while Jack Wagner (ex-Frisco Jones, GH) and Kristina Wagner's (ex-Felicia Jones, GH) Hallmark series, When Calls The Heart, has also brought the network big viewership numbers.
What do you think about Ryan Paevey's Hallmark film outperforming all other cable television programs on the night of Thanksgiving? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
