Why There’s a 24-Hour ‘A Christmas Story’ Marathon Every Year
What To Know
- The 24-hour A Christmas Story marathon began in the late 1990s when Turner Broadcasting, which owned the film’s rights, noticed increasing holiday viewership and decided to air it continuously on Christmas Day.
- The tradition grew in popularity through the 2000s, with TBS and TNT sometimes airing the marathon simultaneously, attracting tens of millions of viewers each year.
- While the marathon has become a beloved holiday staple for many, it also faces criticism for its nonstop format, yet continues to be the most-watched non-sports program on Christmas Day.
Every Christmas, families around the world let their TVs run while they open gifts, eat dinner and celebrate together — and for many, the TV is playing A Christmas Story for the entire day. This year, TBS’s A Christmas Story marathon begins at 8pm EST on December 24, and runs until 8pm the following day; TNT’s marathon begins at 9pm EST on December 24, and runs until 9pm Christmas day. Which begs the question, why does A Christmas Story air for 24 hours on Christmas Day each year, and when did it start? The annual 24-hour A Christmas Story marathon on TBS and TNT feels so synonymous with the holiday that it’s easy to assume it’s always been part of Christmas — but actually, it didn’t start airing on TV until the ’90s.
When did the A Christmas Story marathon first begin?
A Christmas Story, released in 1983, was based on Jean Shepherd‘s semi-autobiographical stories from his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. The film earned modest box office returns at the time; it wasn’t a flop, but it wasn’t a phenomenon either. That changed in the early ’90s, as cable television expanded and Turner Broadcasting began leaning more heavily on its library.
MGM/Everett Collection
Turner owned the broadcast rights to A Christmas Story and started airing it regularly on its networks, including TBS, TNT, and TCM, beginning in 1991. Each year, it popped up a little more often in the days leading up to Christmas. Viewers kept watching. Ratings kept climbing. By 1995, the movie aired six times between December 24 and December 26. In 1996, that number increased again. By 1997, someone at Turner had a simple, slightly unhinged idea: What if they just never stopped airing it on Christmas Day?
As cable audiences grew, so did the marathon’s reach. By the early 2000s, tens of millions of viewers were tuning in at some point on Christmas Day. When TNT shifted toward a more drama-focused programming strategy in 2004, TBS became the primary home of the marathon.
MGM/Everett Collection
Where can you watch the A Christmas Story marathon today?
Today, Turner airs the marathon simultaneously on both TBS and TNT, staggering start times so viewers could jump between channels without hitting the same scene or commercial break. The New York Post writes, “It remains the most non-sports-related program that audiences watch on Christmas Day, with 32 million viewers reportedly watching in 2020.”
Over the years, the marathon has drawn both devotion and backlash. Some viewers insist it’s the ultimate Christmas movie. Others argue that 24 hours is excessive. No matter what you think, it doesn’t change the fact that it will air on Christmas Day for 24 hours. Tell us in the comments, will you be watching?
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PUZZLER: Holiday Movies
December 2022
Enjoy hours of fun as you puzzle along to all these holiday classics. The issue is packed with trivia, crosswords, word finds, Sudoku, scrambles, criss crosses and more!
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