Hallmark Media Pumps Up Its 2023 Upfront Appeal with "Experience" Events

These events nicknamed quotHallmark Experiencesquot were invitationonly with invites going to individuals working at different ad agencies or key advertisers Between 30 and 50 people attended each event conducted at different places around the New York metropolitan area Each invited person had a choice of events to be at from a wellness evening featuring top Peloton instructor Ally Love host of the new Netflix competition series Dance 100 to a private tour of a popular pizza establishment to a baking class at Magnolia Bakery to fine dining at the twoMichelinstarrated restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns pictured at top in Westchester County quotThis is something brand new innovative and very creativequot explained Ed Georger pictured Hallmark Media39s Executive Vice President Ad Sales and Digital Media quotWe wanted to connect personally with our partners and bring all of our brand39s qualities joy and love and friendship and immerse them in the brandquotEach undertaking was linked to a specific aspect of Hallmark39s content For example the wellness evening evoked the importance of wellbeing the baking class stressed how sweet life and living can be and the Westchester retreat demonstrated the value of families gathering together quotIt39s hard to spend any quality time with people when there are 150 of them in a roomquot Georger said quotIn a setting with 30 or 50 people you get an opportunity to reacquaint yourself with people and have both a social and professional conversation It39s getting together and tying the experience into the brand the kind of immersive experience viewers get when they watch our channelsquotThe events have generated strong positive feedback from attendees with the mission to have a crosssection of agency and advertiser personnel at each location accomplished Georger suspects the response has had an impact on the formal Upfront presentations Hallmark has conducted so far and that it will continue do so on the presentations taking place over the rest of this springHallmark Media39s Upfront meetings this year emphasize a few key messages One is a growing fan base for the original content on Hallmark Channel and sister net Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries Another is that despite the growing competition of megacontent services and other channels reaching viewers through smart TV products and multichannel bundles Hallmark39s viewership continues to move upward For the ninth year in a row Georger pointed out Hallmark Channel was the toprated cable network for the fourth quarter of a calendar yearquotViewers continue to come back because they know what they39re going to get and we deliver for themquot he said quotThat39s the overarching message yet we realize that viewer habits are changing and linear TV is in a changing atmosphere Despite the fact that there39s more competition we continue to dominate in that area Plus we39re continually investing in original contentquotIndeed Hallmark Channel claims the distinction of being the mostwatched network on entertainment cable for the year 2022 Further in Q4 2022 Hallmark Channel became the mostwatched entertainment cable network among Households Total Viewers Women and Persons 18 Women 2554 with no qualifiers and Women 1849 The network has remained No 1 among Women 18 in Q4 for nine consecutive yearsLooking ahead through the 202324 season Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries will premiere at least 100 original movies 40plus running over the 2023 holiday season Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries39 presentation of madeforTV films developed under the Mahogany banner will continue into 2024 As for original scripted series two of the three originals now playing on Hallmark Channel newbie The Way Home and longrunning When Calls the Heart will return with new seasons next year The odds for a second season of Ride Hallmark Channel39s drama about a rodeo family dynasty that launched late last month look promisingAt the Upfront presentations company officials are encouraging participants to share their thoughts about their general TV spending strategies quotWe want to hear from them what their challenges are where their businesses are going in hopes that we can find custom solutions from themquot Georger saidWith those concerns top of mind expect Hallmark Media in the weeks ahead to work on growth opportunities involving content generation and distribution through smart TV products and bundle platforms along with brand extensions such as the availability of Hallmark Channel movies on NBCUniversal39s streaming venture Peacock and the further development of basic channel Hallmark Drama and ondemand service Hallmark Movies Now quotPeacock39s hub is an innovative way to get our content in front of new viewers and be in control of the way we deliver that content and the advertisers involved with itquot Georger concludedClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Hallmark Media Pumps Up Its 2023 Upfront Appeal with "Experience" Events

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Simon Applebaum

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Hallmark Media Pumps Up Its 2023 Upfront Appeal with "Experience" Events

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