Chiefs’ Hallmark movie had huge TV ratings, beat most football games in time slot
Given the choice of watching football or a football-themed romance movie on Saturday night, many viewers went with the latter option.
“Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” debuted Saturday and was Hallmark’s No. 1 movie of the year, according to the TV Ratings Guide.
Although the movie was only available on cable, it still beat out three college football games that aired over the air, including Iowa State’s 29-21 win over Kansas State.
TV Ratings Guide said the Chiefs’ Christmas movie had 2.88 million viewers on the Hallmark Channel, while the “Farmageddon” matchup had 2.01 million viewers on Fox.
The Texas-Texas A&M game on ABC was the most-watched program in prime time on Saturday night (9.46 million viewers).
“Holiday Touchdown” also beat out Oregon-Washington (2.57 million viewers on NBC), LSU-Oklahoma (2.09 million viewers on ESPN), Florida-Florida State (1.38 million viewers on ESPN2), Indiana-Purdue (720,000 viewers on FS1) and Wyoming-Washington State (400,000 viewers on CW).
The Chiefs and Kansas City are featured prominently in the Hallmark movie. Coach Andy Reid and four players played themselves: Trey Smith, Mecole Hardman, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and George Karlaftis.
Travis Kelce’s mother, Donna, is in the film along with Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Chiefs CEO/chairman Clark Hunt.
After a stressful Chiefs win on Friday, fans were ready for a breezy film about love, the holidays and Kansas City’s favorite team.
Visit KC was thrilled to have the city featured in the movie.
“With Hallmark’s honored legacy and commitment to Kansas City combined with their exciting Kansas City Chiefs Hallmark Channel ‘Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story’ movie debut, we felt this was an authentic opportunity to showcase our city to a national audience by illustrating how Kansas City is truly a Hallmark movie come to life,” Traci Moon, Visit KC Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, said in a news release. “For some this may be their first introduction to the destination, and we are excited to share a glimpse into what makes Kansas City such a welcoming and inviting community.”
