Hallmark!?

[Roland]

I have a Q about Hallmark. How big was/is their involvement in Farscape? Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Hallmark a big channel/network in america. Owned by a very rich man/family?

Couldn't they help finance Farscape more now that sci-fi dropped out? And mayby air it on their channel.

Hallmark has made so many beutyfull and epic fantasy productions (merlin, 10th kingdom, voyage of the unicorn etc). So couldn't they cash up some more money?

Anyone? :)

[CosmicTheorist]

For decades they have paid for television shows under their "Hallmark Hall of Fame" banner. Hallmark took over a cable channel briefly which was called Odyssey in 2001. Since that time they have had their own Hallmark Channel which is available in about 52 million homes in the US; they are also available in 120 countries.

I have tried to find out why this campaign is not targeting them like we are targeting Viacom but I haven't gotten an answer. I think we should beg them to carry Farscape; after all, Robert Halmi Jr. was an executive producer for Farscape AND he is the current CEO of Crown Media (Hallmark's owner) and The Hallmark Channel.

So I'm writing him. I just hope others will write him as well.

;)

[AnnK]

I've also seen this question brought up before without any real answer - is there one?

[blueassbitch]

Well it certainly couldn't hurt to let them now how we feel. A letter will be in the mail by the end of the week. :D

[DangerWillRobinson]

Originally posted by AnnK
I've also seen this question brought up before without any real answer - is there one?


I asked the same question awhile back and somone told me they were not interested. Hallmark TV is run by someone different then Hallmark productions.

[CosmicTheorist]

A vague statement about them not being interested. But that just sounds to me like an opportunity to make a sales pitch.

The Hallmark Channel is marketed by Crown Holdings. Both are owned by Hallmark Entertainment. Robert Halmi Jr. is president and CEO of Hallmark Entertainment and the Chairman of the Board of Crown Holdings. He is also listed as one of the 3 executive producers for Farscape.

In October 2002, there was a management shake up at the Hallmark Channel and layoffs. Hallmark wants what every cable channel wants. It wants more advertisers and higher ratings. Skiffy may not have thought Farscape's ratings were good enough any more (yeah, right) but Hallmark would be very glad to have those primetime ratings.

Check them out for yourself at this link:

http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/framework.jsp?CNTRY=US&BODY=home.jsp

Are we sure they would not be interested in broadcasting Farscape?

;)

[Roland]

Hallmark has stuck by Farscape since the beginning, into the bitter end! Mayby we should show them some graditude.

Perhaps a fruit-basket :) Hallmark has done many tv mini's and films standing in my DVD and Video shelves. :aok:

[MediaSavant]

I believe the reason it hasn't been targeted is that their programming strategy appears to be going for a "family"/mainstream audience.

If you look at the schedule through that link, it doesn't appear to be the obvious place to put an extremely edgy science fiction show that often got a PG rating.

Also, because of Hallmark's close ties with Henson, it's assumed that the Henson company would know instantly whether Hallmark was a possibility. Maybe the campaign has sensed that it was found not to be and moved on to other targets.

[Bandana Girl]

I agree with MS, but we can still send them notes of gratitude:sun:

[Roland]

Bring on the cookies!!! :)

[CosmicTheorist]

There are a lot of old series. However, 2 weeks ago Hallmark showed all 8 hours of THEIR miniseries "Lonesome Dove" starting in the afternoon on a Sunday. If you ever saw this miniseries, it was a lot more violently graphic then Farscape ever got. It was an excellent miniseries; I enjoyed seeing it ONCE.

Hallmark also recently showed its "Shogun" miniseries. This is another example of adult oriented programming from Hallmark's Hall of Fame.

Yes, there are close ties between Hallmark and Henson's. But The Hallmark Channel is a business; they need BUSINESS reasons for their actions. Higher ratings for their channel is a business reason. In this case its the same reason that Showtime has. Farscape at its worst performed better then anything else currently on either channel.

While we've been showering Henson's with support, showing them that there is still a strong demand for Farscape, we have not been showing the same amount of Scaper love to Hallmark. We need to convince them too that we want more Farscape.

JMHO.

;)

[Roland]

Right on, Cosmic! :aok:

[SabaceanBabe]

I tried to send letters to Hallmark way back when the campaign started, and they all came back as undeliverable. Anyone have a current, valid address?

[CosmicTheorist]

I reported to the FMD sysadmins that the Radio City address for contacting Hallmark is incorrect. You are not alone in getting mail returned from that address, SabaceanBabe.

I got the following addresses from the Cable TV Ad Bureau's web site and Hallmark channel's own web site:

Hallmark Channel
Corporate Headquarters
12700 Ventura Boulevard
Studio City, CA 91604-2469
(818) 755-2400

DAVID EVANS
President & CEO

CHRIS MOSELEY
EVP, Worldwide Marketing & Brand Strategy

DAVID KENIN
EVP, Programming

(from www.cabletvadbureau.com Hallmark Channel's Network profile)


(from www.hallmarkchannel.com Corporate Info -- Investor Relations)

Corporate Headquarters Crown Media:

Crown Media Holdings, Inc.
6430 S. Fiddlers Green Circle
Suite 500
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
(303) 220-7990

ROBERT HALMI, JR.
Chairman of the Board

;)