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Why you can't find your favorite holiday movies on streaming services

Though it's a relatively wonderful life for TV cord-cutters, George Bailey, Clark Griswold and Will Ferrell's "Elf" are still available only on a pay-per-view basis this month. Festive streamers will have to settle for "Santa Paws 2," which has yet to claw its way into the Christmas canon.

Most classic holiday films remain cordoned off as one-time rentals or purchases on digital platforms. Of the 25 greatest holiday movies as ranked by American Movie Classics, only five are available for streaming on Amazon.com, Hulu or Netflix this season. It turns out, Hollywood's best holiday films are too old and too good for streaming business models.

Older films hold scant appeal for buyers at Netflix and its rivals because they carry little sway in getting someone to sign up - or stay. That's one of the reasons Netflix is rushing to have original, in-house content account for half of its catalog by 2020.

"It's A Wonderful Life" will air Christmas Eve on NBC. It's one of many holiday classics not available for streaming on Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. Courtesy of NBC

And Hollywood's best holiday fare isn't cheap or simple to obtain. "The 'not available' category this year is an interesting list," said Chris Thun, vice president of product at TiVo Corp. "The folks who are managing this content most likely believe they can extract more value giving the rights to broadcast."

In fact, "It's a Wonderful Life" is slated to play on NBC on Christmas Eve this year, right about when TBS kicks off a 24-hour marathon of "A Christmas Story." Walt Disney Co. will show "Elf" 14 times on Freeform. The channel is giving a similar treatment to Clark Griswold's exploits in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

Rather than purchase critically acclaimed movies from others, streaming companies are attempting to make them. This year, however, if one insists on not paying extra for holiday fare, start with the seminal "Santa Paws." The sequel isn't nearly as good.

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