Henry Schleiff on Hallmark Channel and the Growing Importance of Baby Boomers

Sadly there weren39t any advertisers within earshot Tuesday night when Schleiff made his comic request He was speaking at Hallmark39s pressonly upfront event at New York City39s Museum of Modern Art which began with a private tour of its Picasso Van Gogh and Cezanne collections and a long look at Monet39s Reflections of Clouds on the WaterLily Pond which dominates the MarieJosee and Henry Kravis GalleryOf course Schleiff39s quip won39t resonate through the media for weeks to come like CBS president and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves39 recent and widely reported remark about upscale 1834 viewers being a amp8220bullshit demographicamp8221 Schleiff cheerfully referred to Moonves39 colorful comment which he noted would be beeped in a Hallmark movie as he talked about the buying power and media preferences of the baby boomer generation which he defines as amp822040 and overamp8221While people under 40 amp8220are watching less TV and are increasingly on their computersamp8221 those over 40 amp8220are watching more TV on TV than ever beforeamp8221 Schleiff noted amp8220And they are willing to be influenced by commercialsamp8221 He was quoting from a recent study commissioned by Hallmark Channel from Millward Brown which revealed that the media market generation gap between boomers and millennials is even broader than previously thoughtamp8220Linear television continues to boom with boomersamp8221 added Hallmark39s senior vice president of research Jess Aguirre amp8220It39s a bust among millennials They are much less attentive to commercial messages than heretofore imagined Sixtyone percent of them say it does not pay to be loyal to one brandamp8221That works in Hallmark39s favor since the network targets the 2554 demographic and is keeping an eye on the 3564 demo a growing group of passionate television watchers with money to spend who understand the pleasures to be had in sitting down and watching television on a big screen amp8211 and without multitasking Schleiff referred to the emotional connection between Hallmark39s family friendly programming its growing baby boomer audience and the traditional Hallmark brand as a amp8220perfect stormamp8221 for advertisersamp8220Hallmark is clearly the largest and most successful beneficiary of the boomer generationamp8221 Schleiff declared The network he added is amp8220now firmly established in the Top 10 however you divide it amp8211 primetime total day adults 2554 women 2554 record growth and momentum in household and demographic ratingsamp8221 Schleiff also said Hallmark is amp8220No 1 in the new benchmark criteria of C3 ratings in all of cable and broadcast and No 1 in audience retention Hallmark Channel holds its audience through commercials longer than any other networkamp8221Schleiff revealed that Hallmark Channel plans to produce 30 original movies in 2008 amp8220That39s up from 18 last yearamp8221 he said amp8220We are now the leading producer in all of television of original quality moviesamp8221 he added placing special emphasis on the word amp8220qualityamp8221According to Hallmark39s executive vice president of programming David Kenin one of those movies might be a sequel to last December39s hugely successful drama The Note which starred Genie Francis of Luke and Laura fame on General Hospital It helped to make Hallmark the No 1 cable channel between Thanksgiving and Christmas The sequel would focus on the deepening relationship between the characters played by Francis and Ted McGinleyWhen I suggested that it might be time for Hallmark Channel to produce an original dramatic weekly series Schleiff was stern amp8220Our audience comes to us for moviesamp8221 he replied amp8220We don39t want to engage in hit or miss one hour dramas amp8211 or sitcomsamp8221 Hallmark this week did announce that it is getting into the business of scheduling classic sitcoms in a big way It will begin running Cheers in the fall and will add I Love Lucy and The Golden Girls in early 2009Meanwhile Schleiff is also overseeing the launch next Wednesday April 2 of Hallmark Movie Channel in HD which will offer a mix of classic theatrical films past Hallmark Hall of Fame productions movies from Hallmark Channel and quarterly amp8220special eventsamp8221 beginning on April 2 with the premiere of the original fourhour miniseries Son of the Dragon starring David Carradine and Rupert GravesSchleiff announced that Hallmark Movie Channel has planned a launch celebration on April 2 in the city of Peoria Illinois amp8211 this to answer the classic question amp8220Will it play in Peoriaamp8221 The entire city has been invited

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Henry Schleiff on Hallmark Channel and the Growing Importance of Baby Boomers

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