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Hallmark Channel is an American
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of
Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...
. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. The channel has its origins in the religious broadcasters American Christian Television System (ACTS) and the Vision Interfaith Satellite Network (VISN). The two services timeshared on a single satellite signal, which was later rebranded as The Faith & Values Channel in 1993. After Liberty Media acquired a 49% stake in the channel in 1996, it relaunched as the Odyssey Network. As Odyssey, the channel gradually phased out religious programming in favor of
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
-oriented films and television series—a pivot that intensified after Hallmark Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company acquired major stakes in the channel in 1998. In 2001, after a corporate reorganization, Odyssey rebranded as Hallmark Channel. By the 2010s, Hallmark Channel had established a focus on made-for-TV movies—particularly
romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...
s and comedies—themed around specific
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
s and
holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...
s throughout the year. The strategy sought to create synergies with Hallmark's core greeting card business, and build upon the strength of the "Countdown to
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
" programming event it first introduced in 2009. In 2019, ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' magazine published an article about the Hallmark Channel and its dominance over North American cable television and the cable industry using Christmas themed movies to gain popularity. , Hallmark Channel is available to approximately 70,000,000 pay television households in the United States—down from its 2015 peak of 90,000,000 households.


History

The Hallmark Channel traces its history to the launch of two separate religious cable channels, the American Christian Television System (ACTS) and the Vision Interfaith Satellite Network (VISN). The two networks began alternating time on a shared transponder slot on the Galaxy III satellite in 1992. Under the original timeshare agreement, the network was branded as VISN/ACTS. Each network was provided time for its programming blocks, and would use their own logos. VISN launched on July 1, 1988, and was founded by the National Interfaith Cable Coalition (NICC), in cooperation with several cable providers. The coalition's membership consisted of 65 different religious groups. It aired for about 16 hours a day and ran religious programs from
mainline Protestant The mainline Protestants (sometimes also known as oldline Protestants) are a group of Protestantism in the United States, Protestant denominations in the United States and Protestantism in Canada, Canada largely of the Liberal Christianity, theolo ...
denominations such as the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...
and the
United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...
. In addition,
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
,
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic faiths also provided some programming. VISN aired during the morning and evening hours. ACTS commenced operations in 1984, and was owned by the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...
. It aired programming from
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
and fundamentalist non-
charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ...
Christian groups such as the SBC, the Christian Reformed Church, and the Association of Regular Baptist Churches, as well as well-known evangelists such as
Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch ...
, Charles Stanley and D. James Kennedy. Both channels aired several hours a week of religious children's programs, some of which overlapped, including ''Sunshine Factory'', '' Joy Junction'', '' Davey and Goliath'', and '' Jot''. In 1993, VISN-ACTS was relaunched as the Faith & Values Channel; it began adding a few
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
programs during this time, including news, information, and lifestyle programming


Odyssey Network

In 1995, cable conglomerate Tele-Communications Inc.'s Liberty Media acquired a 49% ownership stake in the Faith & Values Channel, and took over operational control of the network. It added more secular programming to the network and reduced religious programming to about 10 hours a day. In 1996, the network was rebranded as the Odyssey Network (although on-air promotions often referred to the network simply as "Odyssey"), and launched a website, Odysseyfamily.com. Hallmark Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company bought significant stakes, paid partly through programming commitments, in Odyssey in late 1998; by this time, Odyssey carried a mix of religious programming and family-friendly secular shows, with a limited amount of original productions. Liberty had convinced Hallmark not to launch its own domestic channel, citing difficulty in getting carriage for a new network on existing cable systems. The NICC and Hallmark-Henson would hold equal shares while Liberty increased their stake, and the three groups shared control of the board. Hallmark and Henson would have say over chief executive selection. While adding Henson's and Hallmark's libraries, the channel could not make major programming format changes, so cable systems could not drop them. Hallmark hired former Fox Kids Network worldwide vice-chairman Margaret Loesch that year to overhaul Odyssey into a family channel (Loesch had quit Fox in late 1997, ironically after acquiring Odyssey's rival, The Family Channel, with plans to revamp that network; however, she had to wait out a non-compete clause in her contract before officially joining Odyssey). Under the new ownership structure, Odyssey underwent a major programming revamp on April 4, 1999; the revamp decreased the amount of religious programs on the network down to an average of four hours a day, although more hours were religious on the weekend. The channel began to focus more on family-targeted entertainment programming, including classic
sitcoms A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...
and variety series (such as '' ALF'' and ''
The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...
''), children's programs (such as '' The Archie Show'', ''
Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy television comedy, comedy puppet television series about interconnected so ...
'', and '' Zoobilee Zoo''), and family-oriented films and miniseries (such as the cable broadcast premiere of Hallmark and Henson's 1996 adaptation of ''
Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...
''). The afternoon block ''
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
Presents'' featured films from the RHI Entertainment-owned Hal Roach Studios library, while Wednesday nights featured classic ''
Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...
'' productions. Loesch explained that the three owners shared a commitment to "quality programming" and "raising the bar on television", and that the channel was being programmed in a direction reminiscent of television in the 1950s and 1960s, where broadcasters "really had quite broad fare, but you never had to ask anyone to leave the room, like your children".


Hallmark Channel

In 2000, Odyssey's ownership group was re-organized as Crown Media Holdings, with Hallmark, Chase Equity Associates, Liberty Media, and the NICC transferring their shares in Odyssey to the company. There were plans for the company to go public; Hallmark received all of Crown Media's class B shares, which were worth ten votes each, thus giving it control of Crown Media. After The Jim Henson Company was sold to German company EM.TV & Merchandising in February 2000, it sold its remaining stake in Odyssey the following month in exchange for 8% of Crown Media's stock. In March 2001, Crown Media announced that Odyssey would rebrand as Hallmark Channel on August 6, taking advantage of the better-known Hallmark brand to encourage wider carriage. Loesch commented that some viewers had mistaken Odyssey as being a travel or
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
channel rather than family entertainment, and that Hallmark Channel's main goal would be telling "great stories". Crown Media negotiated with the NICC to reduce the amount of religious programming Hallmark Channel would air to 14 hours per-week (as well as allow for less overtly-religious programs with broader, spiritual themes), and help fund and distribute a digital cable network for the NICC. The channel's launch programming included the miniseries '' The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells'', a new slate of original movies, and acquired programming such as '' Tales from the Neverending Story''. In 2002, the Hallmark Channel premiered a weekday morning talk show, ''New Morning''. A Sunday morning version, hosted by Naomi Judd, titled ''Naomi's New Morning'', debuted in 2005 and lasted two years before being pulled from the schedule in early 2007. In 2004, the network launched a sister channel, Hallmark Movie Channel. Hallmark Channels in international markets were sold for about $242 million in 2005 to Sparrowhawk Media, a private equity group backed by Providence Equity Partners and 3i. The channel in 2005 had its highest-rated year with 34% increase in viewers, being ranked seventh in growth, and the highest-rated movie on a basic cable network (''Meet the Santas''). With the expiration of RHI Entertainment's exclusive contract with Hallmark Channel, Larry Levinson Productions became the channel's sole producer. In 2007, additional producers were added as suppliers as the channel increased the number of original films by 50% from 20 in 2007 to 30 in 2008. In January 2008, the
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
presidential campaign purchased an hour of Hallmark Channel's primetime slots under a paid programming arrangement to run a town hall special promoting Clinton's campaign for
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
on February 4, the day before the multi-state "
Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...
" primaries. The wheel series "Mystery Movie" was discontinued in 2008 as the channel was doing better with lighter romances. Reporting on Hallmark Channel's 2009 upfronts, ''
The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...
'' noted that the channel had built a brand on formulaic romantic movies, explaining that "while other media companies were thrashing around in a tumultuous, confusing sea of unpredictability, the Hallmark Channel was thriving with the television equivalent of
comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone and may be characterized by its high caloric nature associated with childhood or home cooking. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual or it may apply to a ...
."


Bill Abbott era, Martha Stewart agreement

In May 2009, William J. "Bill" Abbott—who had previously held an advertising sales role—succeeded Henry Schleiff as president of Hallmark Channel. Abbott planned to retool its programming to appeal to younger viewers without alienating its core audience of baby boomers, aiming for Hallmark Channel to become "a destination for lighter fare, for comedies and quality programming", and for its programming to be "true" to the Hallmark brand. In a 2019 interview, Abbott explained of these goals that "you should turn on our channel and almost feel like you’re walking into a allmark Gold Crownstore." The channel also began to experiment with abbreviated commercial breaks featuring one 30-second advertisement, with these slots costing twice the amount of a normal 30-second slot. Later that year, Hallmark Channel held the inaugural "Countdown to Christmas"—a seasonal programming event featuring four original holiday film premieres, and a ''Movie Night with
Hoops & Yoyo Hoops & Yoyo (stylized as hoops&yoyo) was an animated franchise by Hallmark Cards that centered around the titular pair of hyperactive and rambunctious characters: a pink cat and a green bunny. History Hallmark artist Bob Holt was assigned to ...
'' block on Friday nights—the first cross-promotional campaign between Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Cards. In January 2010, Hallmark Channel announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO), under which first-run episodes of '' The Martha Stewart Show'' would move from syndication to Hallmark Channel beginning that September, and MSLO would produce a series of primetime specials for the channel (which would begin with specials focused on
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
and
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
). It was reported that Abbott had sought to reposition Hallmark Channel as a lifestyle-oriented channel to compete with the Scripps Networks Interactive channels, and shift its television films exclusively to Hallmark Movie Channel to appeal to younger demographics. On March 16, 2010, Hallmark Channel also acquired rights to MSLO library content, announcing a daily daytime block (lasting for seven hours on weekdays, and a shorter block on weekends) of these programs beginning March 26. Crown Media and MSLO were also reportedly exploring the formation of a lifestyle cable network as a joint venture, tentatively named "Hallmark Home". In June 2010, the channel ordered several additional MSLO-produced series to accompany ''Martha'', including ''Mad Hungry with Lucinda'' and '' Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer.'' Due to low viewership, Hallmark shortened the Martha Stewart block by two hours in October 2010. At least 500 hours of new original programming was slated for the 2011–12 season, including 25 original movies, 160 hours of MSLO programming (including new series '' Emeril's Table'', and additional ''Martha Presents'' specials), and a series in development with poet
Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...
. In addition, ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' productions would air on Hallmark Channel a week after their television premieres on ABC. In January 2012, ''Martha'' was cancelled by Hallmark Channel due to its high production costs, with production ending after the conclusion of its then-current season. Hallmark Channel was still in discussions over the fate of its other MSLO-produced programming. During its upfronts for the 2012–13 season, Hallmark Channel announced the new daytime talk shows '' Home & Family'' and ''Marie!'' with
Marie Osmond Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and businesswoman. She is known for her girl next door, girl-next-door image and her decades-long career in many different areas. Her musi ...
, as well as a slate of original movies that would include pilots for adaptations of the novels '' Cedar Cove'' and '' When Calls the Heart''. In October 2012, ahead of the January 2013 premiere of its pilot movie, ''Cedar Cove'' was given a series order as Hallmark Channel's first original primetime program. ''When Calls the Heart'' was also picked up as a series in 2013, while ''Marie!'' was canceled after one season. On March 15, 2013, the channel introduced a new family-oriented Friday night movie block, ''Walden Family Theater'', in partnership with Walden Media and others. In April 2014, the channel launched a
TV Everywhere TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of American subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" ...
video on-demand service, "Hallmark Channel Everywhere", which offers a streaming selection of Hallmark Channel films and series for subscribers on participating television providers. At some point before July 2021, the name of the app was changed to "Hallmark TV".


Focus on seasonal programming

In the 2014–15 season, ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' premieres moved exclusively to Hallmark Channel, with up to four new films scheduled per-year. Two new series, '' Good Witch'' and '' Signed, Sealed, Delivered'', were picked up for the 2014–15 season. In February 2015, Hallmark Channel held an inaugural "Countdown to Valentine's" event to build off the success of Countdown to Christmas, featuring four movie premieres. In 2015,
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
directed and starred in a Christmas movie for Hallmark. She also hosted ''Mariah Carey's Merriest Christmas'', which was the channel's most-viewed show. Thus in May 2016, Carey signed a three-film deal for her to develop, executive-produce, direct, co-star, and write an original song for three movies with one for "Countdown to Valentine's Day". The channel's first "Winterfest" seasonal programming was in January 2016. At its March 2016 upfronts, Hallmark Channel executives revealed that they planned to divide their programming into themed seasons year-round, to build upon the success of Countdown to Christmas and other franchises. On October 20, 2016, Hallmark Channel and the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel were added to the Sling TV service. On November 15, 2017, PlayStation Vue added Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama to its lineup. In October 2017, Hallmark Channel launched a new, over-the-top subscription service known as Hallmark Movies Now, which features new and existing original content from the network. In October 2018, the three Hallmark linear channels were added to streaming service
Philo Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...
. In November 2017, the channel beat all four major broadcast networks in the ratings one night with its ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' movie, ''The Christmas Train''. In March 2019, Hallmark announced it had dropped
Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin (; born July 28, 1964) is an American actress. From 1988 to 1995, she played List of Full House and Fuller House characters#Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis, Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC ...
from future company projects due to her role in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. In December 2019, the channel stopped airing advertisements for the online wedding registry Zola.com that included two brides kissing each other, because of complaints that it was
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
s kissing and promoted
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
s. A main complainant was One Million Moms, a division of the socially conservative American Family Association, which has been described as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
. Similar advertisements with heterosexual couples kissing were not pulled. As a result, social media users called for a boycott of the channel, while competitors like
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
and the
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
-owned Freeform cable channel responded by touting their
LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
inclusivity. On December 15, Hallmark reversed its decision and said it would reinstate the advertisements and work with
GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...
, an LGBTQ media monitoring organization, to create more inclusive programming. The series finale of '' Good Witch'', which aired in July 2021, featured the first lesbian kiss in a Hallmark production. Abbott quietly and abruptly stepped down as president of Hallmark Channel in February 2020; the following year, a group led by Abbott acquired the Southern lifestyle channel Great American Country (GAC) from Discovery, Inc. to relaunch it as a direct competitor to Hallmark, Great American Family. The channel has emulated the programming strategies that were mounted by Hallmark Channel under Abbott, and has also leveraged talent who had been associated with the channel's original productions. On October 31, 2022, Hallmark announced a distribution agreement with
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
, under which live and on-demand programming from its networks would be available to
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
subscribers.


Programming

Hallmark Channel's programming consists of original dramas and made-for-TV movies, and syndicated reruns of
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
s. It also airs the ''
Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...
'' anthology series. Despite largely being an apolitical brand, Hallmark Channel has garnered a following among politically conservative viewers in suburban and rural areas who, according to Manhattan Institute for Policy Research's Steven Malanga in a ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' op-ed, feel the network and its original programming feed their desire to "express traditional family values and also to steer away from political themes and stories that denigrate religion."


Original movies

The network's made-for-TV movies are characterized as family-friendly and inspirational, ranging from holiday-themed films to
western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
s. In the early stages of the channel's development, Hallmark Channel had a steady one-movie-a-month, or 12-a-year, production schedule with the films mainly being produced by RHI Entertainment. However, in 2008, Crown Media had ramped up its production schedule to approximately 30 movies a year and opened up two other production companies, though RHI still produces some movies for Hallmark Channel. The network premiered 35 original movies during the period from 2009 to 2010, with production ramping up further in the years that followed. Hallmark original movies were budgeted at $2.2 million in 2007. Hallmark does not pay the full cost of films, thus they are often deficit-financed by their producers. Many of Hallmark Channel's productions are produced in Canada, using local talent and filming locations (including a preference towards location shoots instead of
sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...
s) to reduce production costs. A number of actors and actresses have become known for frequent appearances in Hallmark Channel movies. ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' felt that the often-formulaic structure of Hallmark's films contributed to their popularity, describing them as usually featuring "independent women with interesting jobs", "appealing romantic prospects", and often being set in towns where residents "care for one another, run viable small businesses, and compete in
gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly ...
bake-offs—America as we might wish it were, and as some believe it once was."


Series

* ''
Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...
'': Originally only an encore or library home for the ''
Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...
'' anthology film series, the series moved its original showings to the channel in 2014. * ''Mystery Movie'' (also ''Hallmark Channel Mystery Wheel''): The channel began a Sunday night mystery movie wheel series called ''Mystery Movie'' in 2004. This wheel series consisted of four individual movie series of four films that would also be later shown on Hallmark Movie Channel. Two of the film series were '' Mystery Woman'' and '' Jane Doe''. A successor series, ''Original Mystery Wheel'', was established in 2015 on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel. * ''Walden Family Theater'' (2013) On March 15, 2013, the channel started its family friendly Friday night movie series, ''Walden Family Theater'' in partnership with Walden Media, Arc Entertainment,
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
and
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
. P&G and Walmart were sponsoring partners with Walmart selling the movies DVD in store the Tuesday after airing, while Arc and Walden were producing partners. The first movie was the world premiere of '' Return to Nim's Island'', one of six new films produced for the series. '' Space Warriors'' was shown later in the premier season, with additional films drawn from Hallmark's library of films. The series' second season was launched on September 6, 2013, with the premiere of the film, ''Dear Dumb Diary'' based upon the Scholastic book, with the Civil Rights era drama ''The Watsons Go to Birmingham'' premiering next.


Seasonal programming

Hallmark Channel is known for scheduling themed programming around major
holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...
s such as
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
,
Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...
, and
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
—including new original movies relevant to said holiday, in addition to the prime wedding season in the month of
June June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of su ...
. With the introduction of its "Countdown to Christmas" branding in 2009, the channel gradually expanded the number of seasonal programming events it holds. By 2016, the network had divided its schedule into themed "seasons" year-round, with original programming aligned with these themes. Crown Media's then-CEO Bill Abbott explained that this strategy allowed the network to be positioned as "a year-round destination for celebrations", which need not depend on a single series or franchise to bolster its viewership. This programming strategy also creates synergies with
Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...
. * "New Year New Movies!" is broadcast in January; it features movies with a
winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...
theme, but not necessarily tied to the
Christmas and holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrat ...
(as with Countdown to Christmas). The event was previously known as "Winterfest" from 2016 to 2020. * "Loveuary", formerly "Countdown To
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
" (2015–2019) and "Love Ever After" (2020–2021), is broadcast in February. In 2015, the event was 15 days long with four original movie premieres. * "Spring into Love", formerly "Spring Fling" and "Spring Fever", is broadcast in March and April. * "Countdown to Summer" was a one time event with 5 movies in May 2020. * "Summer Nights" (2016–present) is broadcast June through August. In 2017, Summer Nights movies were only shown in August. In 2018 and 2019, Summer Nights movies were shown in July and August. In 2020, there were only three Summer Nights movies in August to go along with the five Countdown to Summer movies in May. In 2021, Summer Nights movies were split up into 2 parts, with the first part being all in June, then taking over a month break, with the second part starting the last week of July, going through all of August, and ending the first week of September. * "June Weddings" (2017–2019) was broadcast in June. It was on hiatus on Hallmark Channel starting in 2020, and made its return in 2023. * "Fall Harvest" (2015–present) airs during September and most of October, primarily airing
autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...
-themed movies (sometimes relating to
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
). In 2016 and 2019, Fall Harvest movies only aired in October. * "Five Nights Stuffed Full of Original Holiday Movies" (2015–present), which airs near
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
.


Countdown to Christmas

From the last weekend in October until
January 1 January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__ Events ...
, Hallmark Channel runs an event known as the ''Countdown to Christmas'', where the network's schedule is devoted to a mix of holiday movies, specials and holiday-themed original programming. The block is branded as ''Countdown to New Years'' from December 26 until January 1 and culminates with the channel's broadcast of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Actresses frequently featured in the channel's Christmas films have been promoted as the "Queens of Christmas", including Rachel Boston,
Candace Cameron Bure Candace Helaine Cameron Bure (; Cameron; born April 6, 1976) is an American actress and talk show panelist. She is known for portraying D.J. Tanner on ''Full House'' and its sequel series ''Fuller House (TV series), Fuller House'', and a number ...
, Lacey Chabert, Erin Krakow, Kellie Martin, Danica McKellar, Autumn Reeser and Alicia Witt. Hallmark's "Christmas TV ratings system" has designations like "F for Family" and "J for Joy". The event was introduced in 2009, featuring four original movie premieres. Countdown to Christmas has featured cross-promotion of Hallmark Cards, including having featured the characters of
Hoops & Yoyo Hoops & Yoyo (stylized as hoops&yoyo) was an animated franchise by Hallmark Cards that centered around the titular pair of hyperactive and rambunctious characters: a pink cat and a green bunny. History Hallmark artist Bob Holt was assigned to ...
in promotions, and airing '' Jingle All the Way''—a half-hour animated Christmas special featuring the character of Jingle the Husky Pup—in 2011, which marked the first Hallmark Channel original production to be a collaboration with a Hallmark Cards property. By 2013, the event featured 12 new movies. Since 2012, the network has held a Christmas in July event with airings of past Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, which is used to promote Hallmark Cards' collectibles for the upcoming season. In 2013, the event included holiday tips from the cast of ''Home & Family''. In 2014, the event added a theatrical movie premiere. By 2015, the event included one new original movie. In 2014, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Cards collaborated for the first time on a movie, '' Northpole'', which was shown during Countdown to Christmas. The 2014 movie ''Christmas Under Wraps'', starring Candace Cameron Bure, became the highest-rated premiere in Hallmark Channel history, with 5.8 million viewers; the success prompted Hallmark Channel to further increase its production of original movies. During the 2017 holiday season, Hallmark Channel premiered 33 original Christmas holiday films, up from a total of 28 holiday movies in 2016. As of 2017, Hallmark had a total of 136 Christmas holiday-themed movies in their original library of films. That year, it introduced the ''Christmas in Evergreen'' franchise, which was based on a Hallmark greeting card line. For 2018, a
satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a '' broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than te ...
companion to the event was carried on Sirius XM—"Hallmark Channel Radio"—which carried
Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
hosted by Hallmark Channel talent (such as Holly Robinson Peete and Lacey Chabert), and behind-the-scenes features relating to Countdown to Christmas programming. In honor of the franchise's 10th anniversary, Countdown to Christmas movies aired on Friday nights throughout 2019, and a "Hallmark Channel Christmas Con" was held in Edison,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
in November 2019, featuring appearances by Hallmark Channel talent.'


Animal special franchise

With the success of the Dog Hero Awards, the channel started a franchise out of the show with additional shows that counterprogram major sporting events. Beyond the Dog Hero Awards and the Kitten Bowl, the channel has the Paw-Star Game (counterprogramming the
MLB All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...
) and the Summer Kitten Games (which had its first edition counterprogram the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
). On February 2, 2014, the Hallmark Channel partnered with New York's North Shore Animal League and Last Hope Animal Rescue to debut the ''Kitten Bowl'' during
Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...
. The event – hosted by Beth Stern and announcers John Sterling and Mary Carillo – is designed as counterprogramming to the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
and airs during the game's halftime show, and is similar to another animal-themed event that debuted nine years earlier on Animal Planet, the Puppy Bowl. ''Kitten Bowl II'' returned on February 1, 2015, and was watched by 1.3 million viewers. A new Kitten Bowl has aired every year since, running repeatedly on Super Bowl Sunday in a three-hour program that includes "playoff games". In 2019, the first edition of the ''Cat Bowl'' was shown during that year’s Super Bowl. The eighth and last edition of the Kitten Bowl aired in 2021 as Hallmark canceled it the next year.


Content standards

The Hallmark Channel has been criticized for editing its programming to remove what its
Standards and Practices In the United States, Standards and Practices (also referred to as Broadcast Standards and Practices or BS&P for short) is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and le ...
department considers offensive words. After the word "God" was muted in April 2014 from the film '' It Could Happen to You'', in what is described as an attempt "to avoid taking His name in vain", the practice backfired when viewers interpreted the muting as evidence of hatred for God. Blogger Donna Cavanagh criticized the channel's content policies in July 2011, describing them as "censorship at its worst", with removal of profanities or epithets such as "ass" and "hooker". In response to Cavanagh's inquiry, a representative of the network wrote: Cavanagh accused the network of hypocrisy in deeming such material as being objectionable according to the network's standards, while continuing to acquire off-network sitcoms such as ''
Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...
'' and ''
The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...
'', which often feature sexual content including references to promiscuity. Others have recommended the channel's late night programming, while noting that the word removal from these programs "puts a mild damper on the fun."


International versions

Hallmark Channel operated several cable channels in various international markets; they were sold in 2005 to Sparrowhawk Media, which was in turn acquired by Universal Networks International in 2007. Universal's licensing agreement ended in July 2011; the networks were either shut down, or rebranded under another
NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...
-owned brand (such as Diva Universal, Studio Universal, 13th Street Universal or
Universal Channel Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the Thriller (genre), thriller, Drama (genre), drama, comedy, Horror (genre), horror, Crime (genre), crime and in ...
). In the United Kingdom, the Hallmark Original Movies originally shown on the channel are now shown on Movies 24, a sister to the Hallmark Channel. On October 25, 2018,
Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...
announced that W Network would become the exclusive Canadian broadcaster of Hallmark Channel original series and films beginning November 1. The agreement includes branded blocks of Hallmark Channel programming, and airings of seasonal events such as Countdown to Christmas (which launched the agreement).


See also

* List of ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' episodes


References


External links

* {{U.S. family-oriented television channels Studio City, Los Angeles Television networks in the United States English-language television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1984 1984 establishments in the United States Former Liberty Media subsidiaries