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

Sadly, there weren't any advertisers within earshot Tuesday night when Schleiff made his comic request. He was speaking at Hallmark's press-only upfront event at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, which began with a private tour of its Picasso, Van Gogh and Cezanne collections and a long look at Monet's Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond, which dominates the Marie-Josee and Henry Kravis Gallery.

Of course, Schleiff's quip won't resonate through the media for weeks to come like CBS president and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves' recent and widely reported remark about upscale 18-34 viewers being a “bullshit demographic.” Schleiff cheerfully referred to Moonves' 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 “40 and over.”

While people under 40 “are watching less TV and are increasingly on their computers,” those over 40 “are watching more TV on TV than ever before,” Schleiff noted. “And they are willing to be influenced by commercials.” 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 thought.

“Linear television continues to boom with boomers,” added Hallmark's senior vice president of research, Jess Aguirre. “It's a bust among millennials. They are much less attentive to commercial messages than heretofore imagined. Sixty-one percent of them say it does not pay to be loyal to one brand!”

That works in Hallmark's favor, since the network targets the 25-54 demographic and is keeping an eye on the 35-64 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 – and without multi-tasking! Schleiff referred to the emotional connection between Hallmark's family friendly programming, its growing baby boomer audience and the traditional Hallmark brand as a “perfect storm” for advertisers.

“Hallmark is clearly the largest and most successful beneficiary of the boomer generation,” Schleiff declared. The network, he added, is “now firmly established in the Top 10 however you divide it – primetime, total day, adults 25-54, women 25-54, record growth and momentum in household and demographic ratings.” Schleiff also said Hallmark is “No. 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 network.”

Schleiff revealed that Hallmark Channel plans to produce 30 original movies in 2008. “That's up from 18 last year,” he said. “We are now the leading producer in all of television of original quality movies,” he added, placing special emphasis on the word “quality.”

According to Hallmark's executive vice president of programming David Kenin, one of those movies might be a sequel to last December's 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 McGinley.

When I suggested that it might be time for Hallmark Channel to produce an original dramatic weekly series, Schleiff was stern. “Our audience comes to us for movies,” he replied. “We don't want to engage in hit or miss one hour dramas – or sitcoms.” 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 2009.

Meanwhile, 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 “special events,” beginning on April 2 with the premiere of the original four-hour mini-series Son of the Dragon, starring David Carradine and Rupert Graves.

Schleiff announced that Hallmark Movie Channel has planned a launch celebration on April 2 in the city of Peoria, Illinois – this to answer the classic question, “Will it play in Peoria?” The entire city has been invited.