How Hallmark built a holiday media empire, complete with cruises

The vacation play is Hallmark’s Super Bowl.

This twelvemonth alone, Hallmark has 80 hours of archetypal holiday-themed programming, including 2 unscripted series, 2 scripted series, a vacation peculiar and 24 movies with titles specified arsenic “The Snow Must Go On” and “Christmas astatine the Catnip Cafe” that tally from mid-October to Christmas.

The institution besides has branched retired into the experiences concern with a Hallmark Christmas Cruise and the Hallmark Christmas Experience festival successful Kansas City, Mo., wherever the institution is based.

“I deliberation that’s 1 of the astir superb concern decisions they’ve made, and they’re expanding determination due to the fact that they person to,” Anjali Bal, subordinate prof of selling astatine Babson College, said of Hallmark’s experiences business. “It allows a transportation betwixt the user and the marque connected a nonstop level successful a mode a movie can’t provide.”

It whitethorn look similar a acold outcry from Hallmark’s roots arsenic a greeting paper purveyor, but institution executives accidental the vacation feelings evoked by its cards, ornaments and acquisition wrapper construe into the benignant of contented they produce.

And that plethora of contented has turned Hallmark into a Christmas juggernaut, fueling competitors specified arsenic Lifetime and Netflix, which besides nutrient vacation romanticist comedies successful the vein of Hallmark movies.

But Darren Abbott, Hallmark’s main marque officer, doesn’t look overly concerned.

“There’s a crushed everyone other is trying to bash this, and it’s due to the fact that consumers are looking for this,” helium said.

Hallmark’s bequest is rooted successful celebrating holidays and Christmas, helium said, “and nary different concern oregon marque has that.”

Countdown to Christmas

Founded successful 1910 by an 18-year-old entrepreneur hawking postcards, Hallmark built its marque implicit the years done cards, vacation ornaments and retail stores.

The family-owned concern ventured into amusement successful 1951 with the tv presumption Hallmark Hall of Fame. Today, Studio City-based Hallmark Media operates 3 cablegram networks, including the Hallmark Channel, which debuted successful 2001, arsenic good arsenic a subscription streaming service.

Though Hallmark had aired vacation movies practically since the inception of its cablegram channel, the institution doubled down connected the play successful 2009, rolling retired “Countdown to Christmas,” a 24-hour-a-day programming artifact focused solely connected vacation content, a contented that has lasted for 16 years.

Hallmark produces astir 100 movies a year, some vacation and non-holiday films.

As a privately-held company, Hallmark did not disclose its finances, though executives admit the vacation play is simply a cardinal operator of amusement revenue.

The enlargement into amusement is simply a mode for Hallmark to enactment successful the zeitgeist implicit aggregate generations and to diversify its concern beyond conscionable cards and retail products, analysts said.

“Their tv stations and experiences concern allows them to enactment culturally applicable portion staying existent to their origin,” said Bal, the selling professor.

Holiday programming — and the breezy, romanticist fare Hallmark has go known for — has go progressively fashionable with audiences.

Holiday features, some aged movies and new, typically marque up much than a 3rd of full movie viewing clip successful December, according to U.S. tv information from Nielsen. That percent has remained reasonably accordant for the past 3 years, though it reached 42% successful December 2021.

Hallmark’s tv viewership besides edges up successful the months starring into the holidays. In October, Hallmark commanded 1% of full viewership crossed linear TV and streaming, ticking up to 1.2% successful November, according to Nielsen data. During that aforesaid time, rival A&E, which owns Lifetime, remained changeless astatine 0.9%.

Hallmark’s feel-good movies typically resonate with audiences crossed the country. They invariably reason with blessed endings (and astatine slightest 1 kiss), wherever romanticist misunderstandings, fiscal difficulties and household play each get resolved. After years of criticism, the movies’ casts and crippled lines are diversifying, though experts accidental determination is inactive country for improvement.

“These films are designed to beryllium highly appealing to wide audiences,” said Kit Hughes, subordinate prof of movie and media studies astatine Colorado State University, who watched each azygous Hallmark movie released successful 2022 for probe connected the portrayal of tiny concern owners. “They’re bully statement movies.”

To turn its assemblage and the types of stories it tells, Hallmark has progressively turned to marque partnerships, including with the NFL.

Last year, the institution released a movie centered astir a Kansas City Chiefs romance; this year, it released 1 astir Buffalo Bills fans. Hallmark besides has a concern with Walt Disney Co. to merchandise a vacation movie adjacent twelvemonth acceptable astatine Walt Disney World. The movie stars Lacey Chabert, who Abbott describes arsenic Hallmark’s “Queen of Christmas.”

Meeting Hallmark stars connected cruise ships

Hallmark’s foray into the cruise concern mightiness look odd, but it follows a agelong contented of amusement companies
creating real-world experiences with their fans, whether that’s connected a ship, successful a taxable parkland oregon connected a stage. As portion of its monolithic tourism business, Disney operates its ain enactment of cruise ships that beforehand the company’s classical characters.

Hallmark launched its archetypal “Hallmark Christmas Cruise” past twelvemonth connected Norwegian Cruise Lines. The inaugural cruise from Miami to the Bahamas sold retired adjacent earlier a planned TV selling campaign. After racking up a hold database of 70,000 people, Hallmark had to adhd a 2nd cruise, Abbott said.

For this year’s cruise, from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico, Hallmark had to publication a bigger vessel to accommodate demand. During the November cruise, attendees participated successful assorted Christmas festivities, specified arsenic ornament-making workshops and cookie-decorating, and mingled with Hallmark stars successful assorted on-stage games.

The cruises adjacent spawned an unscripted Hallmark amusement focused connected the experiences of respective attendees and their interactions with Hallmark actors.

Many are not precisely household names, but they’ve starred successful dozens of Hallmark vacation movies implicit the years and person loyal instrumentality bases.

Abbott joined the cruise past year, and portion he’s not a “cruise person,” helium said helium was fascinated to spot however guests interacted with the stars.

“We’re a spot of a respite from what’s going connected successful the satellite close now,” helium said, “and these experiences benignant of deed connected that astatine the close clip and the close place.”