How To Watch Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer This Holiday Season

The most wonderful time of year is just around the corner, which means families will want to plan out their holiday movie marathons now. If watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is on your list of things to do this Christmas, you may have noticed that the holiday special is a bit difficult to find on streaming platforms and on TV in 2023. Fortunately, we’ve tracked them down.

The classic TV special first aired in 1964 and has been entertaining families during the holidays ever since. In fact, the film is believed to be the longest-running holiday special on TV. The stop-motion animation cost approximately $500,000 to make at the time and was considered to be a hit with viewers. Now, nearly 60 years later, the special is still loved by many and remains a holiday tradition in homes across the country, which explains why many are searching for it in 2023.

Why isn’t Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer streaming anywhere in 2023?

You’ve probably noticed that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is not streaming on any of the popular platform like Netflix, Hulu, or Max — even with live TV add-ons or subscriptions.

According to tweets from YouTube and Hulu, this is because CBS does not have the “internet streaming rights” for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. “This means that it isn’t available for streaming on any platform,” YouTube TV explained on X, formerly known as Twitter.

As such, many families have “caved” and just decided buy the Christmas special to avoid the headache of trying to track it down.

While Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is impossible to stream in 2023, here’s everything you need to know to watch it this holiday season.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer will air on TV in 2023.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer will not only air on CBS on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, multiple airings of the classic will be available on Freeform leading up to Christmas Day.

Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas special will air all your favorite Christmas movies, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Here’s when...

• Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 8:15 p.m. EST
• Thursday, Dec. 21 at 5:15 p.m. EST
• Sunday, Dec. 24 at 5:35 p.m. EST
• Monday, Dec. 25 at 3:30 p.m. EST

No cable? You can purchase Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer online.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is not currently streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Max, or Amazon Prime. However, you can still watch it on the internet, but just at a cost. In 2023, a digital copy of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is available on Apple TV+ for $7.99. Alternatively, you can buy the beloved TV special as part of a bundle of four classic Christmas stop-motion films with Vudu’s The Original Christmas Classics Bundle, which is priced at $24.99. If you prefer a physical copy, you can also purchase a DVD of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer on Amazon for just $7.

Happy watching!