Cable
For Hallmark, that warm, comfy feeling
By Kevin Downey
Mar 28, 2008 - 8:14:04 AM

Typically, going into the spring upfront market, cable networks will begin touting their ambitions for the coming year, and they reliably include growing their audience at an even faster pace and attracting younger viewers, often with cutting-edge original series. It's what media buyers have come to expect.

But buyers are hearing none of that from Hallmark Channel.

Its message: We're sticking with what we already do, and rather than skewing younger, we're aiming to put our arms around an even older audience--older yet than the 61 that is its current viewers' average age.

Rather than aiming to jack up its audience with reality shows--a favored device--it's beefing up in precisely those areas that have attracted the audience it already has. That's more original movies--30 this year versus 18 in 2007--a second channel next month, Hallmark Movie Channel, and the addition of three sitcoms, including “Golden Girls.”

"We welcome it when networks try to go younger because it plays right into our hands,” says Bill Abbott, executive vice president of ad sales at Hallmark. “We play to our strengths and we know what we’re about. It would be foolish for us to try to be something we’re not.”

The network’s identity
Founded in 2001, Hallmark Channel in only a few years has grown into a top-25 network, and it’s still growing. But perhaps more significant for advertisers, it’s created one of the clearest brands on cable TV.

Its niche is programming that entertains without offending the sensibilities and values of its audience.

“They’re in a good spot trying to get advertisers and audience,” says Miraj Parikh, director of Spark Communications, a division of Starcom MediaVest Group. “There aren’t a lot of networks that cater to the family-friendly audience, so Hallmark has an opportunity to capture those viewers and advertisers in that family-friendly bucket.”

While growth is certainly a priority for the mid-size cable network, its favored position with advertisers takes a lot of the pressure off, allowing it to pursue that growth at its own pace through adding to its particular brand of programming.

The network’s target audience
Hallmark is targeting adults 25-54 and increasingly 35-64s, a demographic most networks barely mention, never mind actively target.

The network’s ratings
Hallmark is in the middle of the cable pack in the 25-54 demographic. In February, it ranked No. 26 in primetime with an average 329,000 viewers, up 11 percent from the same time in 2007.

It ranked No. 10 among all viewers, however, with an average audience of 1.3 million people, up 22 percent.

“Things are going fairly well for them, so I don’t think they should change their direction drastically,” says Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom. “They’d alienate viewers if they did that.”

The network’s competitive set
Hallmark competes with a slew of networks that do well in 25-54s, including top-rated networks like USA, TNT and TBS. But it also competes with networks like Lifetime that air original movies and those that go after older viewers with clean content, including TV Land and Nick at Nite.

What’s new for 2008/09
Hallmark this year is putting on 30 original movies with old stars that baby boomers will remember.

Dick Van Dyke is back in “Murder 101: Locked Room Mystery” and John Larroquette returns in the recurring “McBride” movie series. Bob Newhart plays a detective in “Herb’s Murders” and Jane Seymour is a Martha Stewart-type personality solving a murder in “Dear Prudence.”

Hallmark has also locked up 99 movies from the Disney vault, including “The Princess Diaries” and “The Santa Clause,” along with adding some old sitcoms, something it hasn’t done much.

The network’s upfront outlook
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent: 4.5.

Hallmark is among the most clearly defined networks for advertisers, particularly those looking for inoffensive content geared to older adults.

The addition of Hallmark Movie Channel means it has movie inventory to sell. Coupled with continued growth for the flagship network on the strength of original movies, Hallmark is ideally positioned to do very well in this upfront.

Links to past upfront stories:
truTV
FX
AMC