Cable TV networks have pretty much ceded original made-for-TV movies to richer video streamers. But cable’s Hallmark Channel is a notable exception with its annual parade of original Christmas holiday films starting this month.
Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas rolls out 34 TV movies for its 17th edition (image above promotes Hallmark’s movies on its TV channels and also its video streaming subscription).
Hallmark Channel has created a cottage industry around Christmas, which dovetails with its wholesome family content format and the greeting-card business of its parent. Among the 34 TV movies is “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” (Oct. 17 premier), which represents a third collaboration with football’s NFL. Two others films are “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” (Nov. 28), filmed at Disney World; and “A Grand Biltmore Christmas” (Dec. 5), which is set at the famed baronial estate in North Carolina and is a follow-up to a 2023 movie.
It can be said Hallmark Channel “owns” the Christmas holidays with a brand-like saturation that is popular with audiences, much like Discovery Channel has done with Shark Week (telecast in late July).
“The holiday season is Hallmark’s Super Bowl,” says a Los Angeles Times story by Samantha Masunaga in December. “The company also has branched out into the experiences business with a Hallmark Christmas Cruise and the Hallmark Christmas Experience festival in Kansas City, Mo., where the company is based.”
Marketing seems to emphasize on-air the cable network, peppering the Hallmark+ streaming service with promotions and also some paid advertising elsewhere. Messaging is built around wholesomeness, which stands apart for edgy programming that dominates the media landscape. The voiceover from a Countdown to Christmas video says, “Be there for every mistletoe moment.” The original movies are scheduled for every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m.
The 2-hour-long Hallmark TV movies are mostly produced at bargain price of $1 million to $3 million in Canada, where costs are lower than Hollywood and they receive government subsidies. Its Christmas films with top talent can cost up to $5 million. That translates to $500,000 to $2.5 million per hour for Hallmark, versus $3 million to $6 million cost per hour for scripted broadcast network TV series. Its scripted streaming TV series with top talent are pricier at $10 million or more per hour. Those estimates exclude the TV industry’s cheaper reality TV shows. The 34 Countdown to Christmas titles represent about one-third of Hallmark Channel’s annual output of TV movies.
The Hallmark advertising-supported basic cable TV network is owned by closely-held greeting cards and media giant Hallmark Cards Inc. The privately-owned parent is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo.
Hallmark Channel today has 70 million U.S. cable subscribers, which makes it a leading basic cable TV network. Hallmark Channel garners about 1% of total basic cable TV viewing. Of course, economics for basic cable are under pressure with “cord cutting,” which has reduced subscriptions industry-wide.
The parent also operates cable networks two other basic cable networks: Hallmark Mystery and Hallmark Family, and also video streamer Hallmark+, which replays its library of original movies from past years.
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