Come gather round the TV fireplace, kids

Cocoa, caroling, your brother-in-law hiding the Elf on the Shelf in some BS place no one will ever find… We all have our Christmas traditions. 

And, for many, those include a TV fireplace crackling in the background. 

Popular on streaming platforms, TV fireplaces capture some of a real fire's coziness, minus the smoke, cleanup, and risk of burning your house down. 

A merry tradition

New York City TV station WPIX ran the first televised fireplace in 1966 — “The Yule Log” — offering three uninterrupted hours of looped footage of a log burning on Christmas. 

Silly and celebrated, a tradition was born. 

• Initially, the program was cancelled in 1989 over financial concerns.
• But after years of public pressure, the channel rebooted it in 2001, and has aired it every Christmas since.
• In 2011, director George Ford sold a series of similar "Fireplace for Your Home" videos to Netflix. 

Despite initial skepticism, Ford's videos became some of the platform's most unlikely hits — and one of the streaming industry's quietest marketing hacks. 

Isn't it ironic?

The original “Yule Log” program is essentially anti-commercial. It's an uninterrupted, unprofitable gift to New Yorkers — but its modern-day descendants are some of streaming's most versatile commercial assets. 

TV fireplaces tap into holiday nostalgia that can generate serious engagement. Two versions even made Netflix's Top 10 around this time last year. 

They're also easy to produce with adjusted branding, letting studios and platforms easily create seasonal promotional resources at minimal cost, including:

• Netflix has several options, with themed fireplaces covering bases from KPop Demon Hunters to “Bridgerton.”
• HBO Max released a “Rick and Morty” version that lets viewers join the titular duo fireside as they flip through interdimensional cable channels. 
• Horror streaming service Shudder offers a Halloween-themed TV fireplace called the "Ghoul Log" — which gets a mention because that name slaps.
• Even NASA got in on the action last year with four RS-25 rocket engines ablaze in a fireplace. 

The versatility and staying power of the TV fireplace show there can be value in unlikely, passively consumable sources — especially if they play to nostalgia and can be produced without breaking the bank. 

Plus, they’re cozy as hell.