How can I stream *all* the *new* Lifetime Holiday Movies online?

November 1, 2020 8:13 AM

Holiday SOS! Is it possible to stream the 2020 lifetime holiday movie lineup? The answer to this question should be obvious but it's not.

It's not clear to me if the Lifetime Movie Club offers the full 2020 lineup or is just access to the older catalogue. Similarly what you get with an Amazon or Hulu Lifetime channel is vague. I'm happy to wait for the actual air date (the calendar is extensive) but I'd like access to stream this year's movies on demand.

Nuclear option: I could purchase a streaming cable subscription service for November-December and get my holiday fix live. This would work for sure. But if an on-demand option existed that would be preferable.

Have any other holiday movie fanatics cracked the code? If so please share.

posted by countrymod to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Their MO in the before times was to reserve the new releases for the cable network, and the Club was a separate thing with kind of a disappointing selection of catalog movies and licensed content. The code seems to be that you’ll need a cable package or equivalent. NB if you choose to do this via Sling I think you’ll get Lifetime in a basic package but if you want Hallmark and/or Lifetime Movie Channel you’ll need a $5 add-on. Also cable (and equivalent) plans often include “on demand” content but I don’t remember if Lifetime made its movies available that way after airing. Every cable network seems to have different rules and licensing agreements.
posted by fedward at 9:00 AM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

Someone told me you can add it to a Prime subscription if you have it-I may try.
posted by purenitrous at 9:04 AM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

I would be quite surprised if they weren't available on the video on demand platform. Philo is like $20 a month, and you need not keep it once you're done with your holiday movie fix. You can use their cloud DVR to avoid the forced ads on VOD or even watch live if you prefer.
posted by wierdo at 11:25 AM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

(Just in case you don't care specifically about it being *Lifetime's* holiday lineup, FYI Netflix launched a slate of holiday movies this year.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:51 PM on November 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all! I signed up with Philo which was much cheaper route than I'd planned (Hulu). With Philo I can use the DVR to record upcoming movies and stream several current on-demand movies. I can also use Philo to login to Lifetime's site and stream.
posted by countrymod at 9:28 AM on November 2, 2020