Streaming has decimated the audience for entertainment-focused cable networks, with one major exception: the Hallmark Channel.
Hallmark’s viewers tend to be older and ultraloyal. And the family-owned company has kept viewership high for the gingerbread-scented programming on its traditional channel by largely staying out of the streaming business.
But even one of the most old-fashioned corners of Hollywood must evolve.
On Thursday, Hallmark said it would introduce a stand-alone streaming service. It will be called Hallmark+ and arrive in September for $8 a month. As part of the push, Hallmark is expanding into holiday-themed mini-series and reality competition shows, including one called “Finding Mr. Christmas.” (In a racy episode, at least by Hallmark standards, the “Hallmark Hunks” strip off their Christmas sweaters, albeit briefly.)
Hallmark + subscribers will have on-demand access to old content; almost 300 Hallmark Christmas films have aired since 2002. The ad-free service will also offer exclusive new programming — shows like “The Chicken Sisters,” adapted from the best-selling book and described by Hallmark as “a family drama dipped in Southern charm and served up with a saucy side of romance.”
Hallmark+ membership will also come with a range of perks, including monthly $5 coupons for Hallmark Gold Crown stores, free greeting cards, exclusive access to Hallmark’s growing roster of live experiences (themed cruises, star meet-and-greets) and free “surprise” gifts (an exclusive Christmas ornament, for instance).
“This is a seminal moment for us,” Mike Perry, the president and chief executive of Hallmark, said in a Zoom interview. “We continue to be committed to linear cable, which is going to be a good business for us for a long time. But there is an enormous opportunity in streaming, in part because of the strength of our brand and the unique way we are combining Hallmark+ with membership rewards — connecting our business segments in ways they haven’t recently been.”
Mr. Perry knows what you’re thinking: Isn’t it a bit late? Other old-line media companies made the leap from traditional television to streaming starting in 2019. The glow has since come off much of the streaming business, with some struggling services looking to merge as they try to contain costs and reduce churn, the entertainment industry’s term for the percentage of subscribers who cancel monthly.
If anything, consumers — reeling from inflation — are cutting back on the number of streaming subscriptions they maintain, analysts say.
But the situation with traditional cable is much worse. Analysts have warned of a coming “cliff” of cable cancellations, in part because ESPN — currently available (with limited exception) only the traditional way — will be offered as a stand-alone streaming service by the end of next year. By 2027, fewer than 50 million homes will pay for cable television, down from almost 100 million in 2016, according to PwC, the accounting giant. That means only 38 percent of households in the United States will have a hookup.
“With what’s happening within the industry, it’s not prudent to just think we’ll be OK on linear cable,” Mr. Perry said.
Hallmark has been experimenting with streaming. Since 2017, it has operated a limited service called Hallmark Movies Now, which costs $6 a month. Some Hallmark programming has also been available on Peacock.
The Peacock deal will continue, Mr. Perry said. Hallmark Movies Now, which has an estimated 1.5 million subscribers, will reboot as the full-fledged Hallmark+.
After the new service arrives, will there be any Hallmark content reserved exclusively for the traditional channel?
“The short answer is no,” Mr. Perry said. “There will be things that will launch exclusively on linear cable, but then we’ll roll them onto the service.”
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