Hallmark Channel

World Screen Weekly, July 12, 2007

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

LAUNCH DATE: August 5, 2001

NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: 83 million through cable and satellite operators

OWNERSHIP: Owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc.

DESCRIPTION: The 24-hour basic cable network delivers series, movies and specials for family audiences. It consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in prime time and total day household ratings.

PRESIDENT & CEO: Henry Schleiff

EXECUTIVE VP, AD SALES: William Abbott

EXECUTIVE VP, PROGRAMMING: David Kenin

EXECUTIVE VP, MARKETING: Laura Masse

EXECUTIVE VP & CFO: Brian Stewart

EXECUTIVE VP, LEGAL & BUSINESS AFFAIRS & GENERAL COUNSEL: Charles Stanford

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Turning six this year, Hallmark Channel has enjoyed a consistent rate of growth in distribution, ratings and advertising sales, according to David Kenin, the network’s executive VP of programming. The channel recently celebrated its highest-ever-rated June and highest-ever-rated second quarter. During the month it ranked eighth in prime-time household ratings among all ad-supported networks, averaging 895,000 homes and almost 1.2 million total viewers. It also recently broke the 80-million distribution mark in the U.S., which Kenin calls “a big breakthrough.”

The key to Hallmark Channel’s continued success, Kenin says, has been original movies like Love’s Unending Galaxy and You’ve Got a Friend, which both delivered a rating of 1.9 when they aired last month. “We are one of the few networks in broadcast or cable that is producing original movies on a regular basis,” Kenin says. “We’ll have 22 or so movies on the air this year.”

Acquisitions have also been a part of the channel’s schedule, although Kenin concedes, “we’re not a big buyer.” The network acquires made-for-TV movies as well as library features from the studios, such as Phantom of the Opera, part of a 39-title deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution inked last year.

Kenin stresses the variety of Hallmark Channel’s movie offerings, which fill its prime-time schedule on a daily basis. “We do movies of celebration and holidays. We do romance, mysteries, Westerns, and we do general dramas. The movie is the centerpiece of what we do.”

Mysteries, in particular, have been an audience draw, with titles like the Jane Doe series of TV movies, as well as the Dick Van Dyke’s upcoming Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses.

Daytime, access and fringe prime time, meanwhile, are filled with classic television series, among them the recent purchase, Murder, She Wrote. Among the series that Kenin cites as having been solid performers for the network are The Waltons, Touched by an Angel, Matlock, Little House on the Prairie and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Kenin says that Hallmark’s most significant acquisition was that of M*A*S*H, the classic comedy about personnel at a military hospital during the Korean war. “That introduced the channel to a lot of very loyal M*A*S*H viewers; it was the start of the largest growth for the channel.”

The scheduling of the series has been crucial to the success of Hallmark’s movie strategy. “We started building daytime in order to support the movies,” says Kenin, who has been overseeing Hallmark’s programming since shortly after its launch. “My position was, we’re never going to succeed with these movies unless we build a daytime base from which we can promote them.”

A common theme running across Hallmark Channel’s schedule is the emphasis on family and family-friendly programming. “We understand our audience very well; and it is an underserved audience,” Kenin says, citing TNT, USA Network and Lifetime as among Hallmark’s key competitors.

That family theme is reflected in Hallmark’s new branding campaign, Make Yourself at Home. “It features emblematic family relationships being exhibited in a very light and friendly way,” Kenin says.

WHAT’S NEW: Kenin says there will be “tremendous growth” in Hallmark’s new-media activities in 2008. “There will be an online component with every original movie that we make.”

Hallmark’s online strategy already includes the Tell Us Your Stories initiative, in which viewers are encouraged to submit stories about their lives. The best will be turned into 30-second clips that will stream on the website. “Some of them will also show up on the air,” Kenin says.

Original programming will remain a key focus, Kenin adds. Hallmark recently hired Barbara Fisher as its senior VP of original programming, where she is charged with overseeing the development and production of original movies, mini-series, specials and series. Fisher was most recently a producer and consultant for National Geographic Entertainment, following two years as the executive VP of entertainment at Lifetime. Fisher also spent eight years as the president of Universal Television Entertainment. “We hired Barbara to help us bring in new movies and more original programming to the channel,” says Kenin. “Barbara will allow us to get to a lot of different producers.”

Kenin continues: “We are talking to people about international co-productions. This year we will make many more [movies] in Canada and maybe Europe and elsewhere.”

WEBSITE: www.hallmarkchannel.com

—By Mansha Daswani