Hallmark Channel’s New Lifestyle

As television executives converged onto Las Vegas last week for NATPE, there was much to be said about the changes in the syndication market in the U.S. over the last few years. Signaling a further shift in the business, domestic diva Martha Stewart announced last Tuesday that she’s taking her flagship series The Martha Stewart Show to cable, beginning this fall.

Currently in its fifth season in syndication by NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution, The Martha Stewart Show will make Hallmark Channel its exclusive U.S. home for new episodes as of this September. (Internationally, the brand is represented by FremantleMedia Enterprises, the global distributor for all Martha Stewart programs. The Martha Stewart Show, as well as Martha’s Kitchen, Martha’s Home, Martha’s Garden, Martha’s Home for the Holidays and more, have sold to 30-plus countries, including Canada, Australia, Japan, Italy, Poland, Israel, Norway and across Latin America.)

For Stewart, the move out of syndication and onto cable will enable fans to develop stronger ties with the show. "It’s so important for us to be available on TV when our viewers can watch us," she said in a conference call with reporters. "This enables us to have The Martha Stewart Show on at 10 a.m. nationwide every single day. We’re going to have a redisplay in the afternoon at 4 and at 5. This is very good. It will appeal greatly to the working woman who loves our material and is oftentimes at work when our show is aired now in syndication, and it appeals very much to the stay-at-home mom because now she has a specific time and place that she can see the program."

The deal with Hallmark Channel gives Stewart’s company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO), a two and a half hour programming block on the cable network Monday to Friday. Following The Martha Stewart Show, Hallmark will air a range of MSLO titles that are currently in development. "Our core values and content areas—entertaining, weddings, crafting, cooking, gardening, holidaying—are a perfect fit with the Hallmark Channel," Stewart explained. MSLO will also be looking at developing prime-time specials for Hallmark Channel.

"I have been a viewer of Hallmark prductions for as long as i can remember," Stewart continued, "and it’s always been a dream of mine to find a partner for our television ideas and productions that would really reflect our own values—of tradition, of family, of being the kind of producer of information that the homemaker really needs and wants."

For Hallmark, the pact with MSLO reflects a slight change in its programming strategy. On the heels of a management shuffle in 2009—including the departures of Henry Schleiff and David Kenin—"we’re laying out our long-term strategy," said Bill Abbott, the president and CEO of Hallmark Channels. The new outlook, he said, involves "transitioning the focus of our programming from a heavy reliance on acquired classic programs to more fresh, original, home and lifestyle content that will be a strong complement and a cross-promotional platform for our robust schedule of Hallmark Channel original movies. We believe that Martha Stewart-branded programming and sensibility is the ideal match for where we want Hallmark Channel to be."

Abbott noted that original movies will continue to be a key part of the Hallmark Channel mix—24 are on the planner for this year alone. However, going forward, "the Hallmark Movie Channel will become more of a home to our movie product and our original movies, and you’ll really begin to see a point of difference between the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel."

Abbott continued: "Hallmark Movie Channel is the fastest-growing network in cable. We’ll be in 40 million homes by fourth quarter and at that point will be a very attractive opportunity for advertisers looking for that type of product."