As Charlie Brown once said: “I won’t let commercialism ruin MY Christmas!”
This Christmas, if you’re searching for your favorite Peanuts Christmas special to pop on while you deck the halls, you may be disappointed to discover that A Charlie Brown Christmas is now exclusively available on Apple TV, and typically behind a paywall — sorry, Charlie …
Back in 2020, Apple secured the exclusive streaming rights to the Peanuts cartoons after years of the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition TV specials being available across multiple broadcast networks — usually ABC and CBS. This year, A Charlie Brown Christmas won’t air for free on either of those networks.
So, if you’d like to watch Charlie Brown pick out a little sapling tree for the gang’s Christmas play before you gather to open presents with your family, you’ll need access to Apple TV.
What channel is A Charlie Brown Christmas on this year?
After years of the Peanuts’ Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween TV specials airing on the likes of ABC, CBS and PBS every holiday season, all the Charlie Brown specials are now only available through Apple TV+. Luckily, the service offers a free trial, so you don’t technically need to shell out any money to see Linus explain the true meaning of Christmas this year …
How to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas
Apple TV+ is the official streaming home for all the Peanuts holiday specials, including It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas. In addition to those nostalgic holiday episodes, you can catch award-winning shows like Shrinking, Severance, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show and Lessons in Chemistry, plus great original movies.
An Apple TV+ subscription will cost you $9.99/month, BUT the platform still offers a 7-day free trial available to new subscribers, OR, if you’ve bought an eligible Apple device recently (say, as an early Christmas gift … ) you can get up to three months of the streaming service totally free.
When will A Charlie Brown Christmas be free this year?
In the name of Christmas (and in an effort to not be a total Grinch!) Apple made the Charlie Brown Christmas special free for all — not just Apple TV+ subscribers — to watch on Saturday, December 14, 2024 and Sunday, December 15, 2024. If you missed that window, you can still stream A Charlie Brown Christmas free with the help of Apple TV’s free trial period.