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‘Polar Express’ ABC Family’s Most-Watched Program Ever

Tom Hanks’s The Polar Express seems to be the new Hollywood blockbuster for television, while NBC’s remake of The Year without a Santa Claus was not much more than a snoozer.

The Tom Hanks movie on ABC Family was the No. 1 show on cable last Friday, with 4.03 million viewers in its 8 p.m. time slot, writes Media Life. The show helped give ABC Family its best night of prime time in five years - quite a feat, as the film aired opposite the classic Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer on CBS.

The Polar Express aired again the next night and was the most-watched program in ABC Family’s history, with 5.06 million viewers.

ABC Family was, in fact, the most watched cable network for the week ended Dec. 10, thanks not only to The Polar Express and The Year without a Santa Claus original (which aired last Monday at 8 p.m. and drew 3.75 million viewers), but also to the debut of its original movie, Santa Baby, writes Mediaweek.
Santa Baby finished fifth among all viewers on Sunday night between 8 and 10 p.m. and delivered 4.73 million viewers.

The Year without a Santa Claus will air twice more before Christmas, on Dec. 15 and Dec. 20.