Hallmark recently held an upfront event, last Wednesday, March 30th in the Rainbow Room, at the top of the 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in midtown Manhattan, New York to market to advertisers.
This gathering gives us a little hint as to what is to come on the Hallmark Channel & Hallmark Movies & Mysteries...
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| image via: Cynopsis Media with Lori Loughlin and Candace Cameron Bure |
There is an article describing the event on the Media Post website: "Hallmark Upfront Emphasizes Family-Friendly Programming, Focus On Holidays", by Adam Buckman - which gives us an insight at what took place at this gathering. (Thank you L. Monroe for e-mailing me this link!)
At the Hallmark Upfront event:
Bill Abbott (Crown Media President and CEO), Lori Loughlin (When Calls the Heart, Garage Sale Mystery, etc...), Jack Wagner (When Calls the Heart), Candace Cameron Bure (A Christmas Detour, Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, etc...), James Denton (Stranded in Paradise, Good Witch) were all there as speakers to promote the Hallmark Movie brand. The themed weaved throughout their speeches (according to the article mentioned above) was that Hallmark is a family friendly network, you can depend upon. I love hearing that promise to advertisers and viewers!
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| Lori Loughlin and Candace Cameron Bure snapped this photo together at the Hallmark Upfront Event via Lori Loughlin's Instagram |
For all of us who love Hallmark Christmas Movies, this statement is great news... "Hallmark’s Christmas programming has made it “the highest-rated network on television during the holidays,” said Ed Georger, executive vice president of advertising sales for Crown Media Family Networks."
Also, shared in the article, are the various Holiday & Seasonal themes that Hallmark is presenting throughout the year, "Fall Harvest", "Countdown to Christmas", "Winterfest", “Countdown to Valentine’s Day,” “Spring Fling”, and a new one... "Summer Nights", which of course... includes the new series "Chesapeake Shores"!
CEO Bill Abbott shared, "Rather than relying on one hit show or one franchise, we have created a 365-day experience with every one of our programming events driving viewership and establishing Hallmark Channel as a year-round destination for celebrations..."
Please click here to read Adam Buckman's full article & let me know what you discover in it!
I, too, emailed the link to the article to you (along with some other, separate tidbits of info), and I think I mentioned that what I noticed in the article was the mention of 18 new Christmas movies (which would be up from 17 last year), AND the fact that June Weddings was not mentioned -- even though that is the next event coming up after Spring Fling.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing that I noticed (and I think I mentioned in my email to you) is that the article seems to indicate that Fall Harvest is covering both September and October this time around. I doubt it will begin in early September, but if it starts in September at all and then continues on through October then it means it's a bit different from last year.
While I think that the "18" number for the new movies in the Countdown to Christmas is flexible, and could easily drop back to 17 or climb up to 19 or 20, I notice that no mention has been made about when it will be starting this year. The article seems to indicate that time would be devoted to Thanksgiving before the Countdown to Christmas -- but, as we all know, Thanksgiving Week is part of the Countdown to Christmas, not separate from it.
I actually tend to wonder if Fall Harvest is starting slightly earlier this year because the Countdown to Christmas may have to start slightly earlier. I doubt that the Countdown to Christmas would begin on 10/31 this year -- since it is a Monday -- but it could begin on, perhaps, 10/29, with a Thanksgiving movie? Or, what could happen is that Fall Harvest begins in the last weekend in September with a new movie. Then there could be 3 more new Fall Harvest movies on the first 3 Saturdays in October (10/1, 10/8 and 10/15). There could be a couple of new Thanksgiving movies on the last 2 Saturdays in October, and then right into the Countdown to Christmas on Sunday, 10/30, with a new movie.
Just thinking out loud...
I am very concerned that Hallmark may not continue "When Calls The heart" and "Signed Sealed And Delivered." They have been two excellent series for all to see. Can you shed some light on this subject? I so appreciate all your wise and helpful comments.
ReplyDeleteI love When Calls the Heart and this year the writing is far superior to last year when the series was somewhat hard to follow. I've watched every one of these episodes from the beginning. I sincerely hope this series is renewed. On another note, I would like to see Hallmark pick up the cancelled Ties that Bind - another good series that emphasizes a somewhat different genre. Thanks for listening!
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