Ho, ho, whoa! Christmas already?

Christmas miracles are in store for Adam Claymore (John Fleming),... — Christmas miracles are in store for Adam Claymore (John Fleming), a young boy who was paralyzed after a car accident when Santa shows up disguised as the new school janitor (Judd Nelson) in "Cancel Christmas," airing Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011 at 8 p.m. on Hallmark Channel. Credit: Hallmark Channel Photo/

By DIANE WERTS. Special to NewsdayNovember 8, 2011

Forty-five days before the big holiday, Christmas is all over TV already. Hallmark Channel premiered two holiday movies last weekend, and is starting its round-the-clock "Countdown to Christmas" this weekend, while debuting two more new films.

Bet we've never had a TV Christmas so early before.

Um, take that bet. Turns out Hallmark started its nonstop "Countdown" the same time last year. And had a "Holiday Open House" festival of yule movies the weekend before that. They start early to make room for an upcoming 1,300 hours of holiday TV (counting both Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel).

THE AUDIENCE SPEAKS "It's starting early because the audience is asking for it," says Hallmark TV program chief Michelle Vicary (who admits it's also the time its parent company does its big Christmas kickoff in Hallmark stores).

This means Christmas festivity now starts less than a week after Halloween. Commercial pressures? Not only. "I go to the social networks to gauge if we're doing things right," says Vicary, and response there to last weekend's "Holiday Open House" was wildly enthusiastic. "We've heard nothing but positive reaction, because they [viewers] couldn't wait to see the movies and be in the Christmas spirit."

Well, who wouldn't want to be? It's warm and welcoming, full of family and traditions, cool decorations, lavish food, festive lights -- sigh.

Must be true of the households watching ABC Family, too. That channel's December event "25 Days of Christmas" is now traditionally preceded by November's "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas," which starts Nov. 20.

SEE PHOTOSScenes from the movie 'A Christmas Carol'

MORE VIEWERS You probably can guess why the yule now seems to air endlessly. "From mid-November through December," says Hallmark's Vicary, "75 million [unique] viewers come to our network. We see our audience spike by about 30 percent going into the holidays, and they stick with us all through the season." Beyond, too -- Hallmark stays all-Christmas through New Year's, when Vicary says she thinks "a lot of people who've been busy with the meals and the decorating can sit down and see the movies they may have missed."

So, yes, it's commercial. But it's only commercial because viewers want to watch all those heart-rending reunions and realizations. "A quality movie that is emotional, that connects people, that is about relationships, and that's hopeful," Vicary says. "It's not good enough just to have a story set at Christmastime; we want to tell a true Christmas story."