Yahoo News Hallmark Upgrades Its Streaming Options With New Platform
Hallmark is getting fully into the streaming game.
The cable outlet known for its annual bounty of Christmas movies and series like When Calls the Heart is planning to launch a streaming service — titled Hallmark+ — in September. The platform will replace the company’s current streaming option, Hallmark Movies Now, and offer a wider menu of programming, including more originals, and benefits for Hallmark’s other businesses including coupons for its retail stores and free gifts.
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“Hallmark+ marks a seminal moment for Hallmark,” said president and CEO Mike Perry. “By intertwining new, rich content experiences with tangible rewards and premium Hallmark gifts, we are delivering a unique, new program that reflects our commitment to spreading joy through our deeply beloved brand touchpoints.”
Hallmark Movies Now has been around since 2017, and the company also operates a FAST service called Hallmark Movies & More. Additionally, it signed a content deal with Peacock in 2022 that includes streaming simulcasts of Hallmark’s linear channels and access to some library titles via the NBCUniversal-owned streamer.
The Peacock deal will remain in place when Hallmark+ launches. Hallmark+ will cost subscribers $8 per month or $80 on an annual plan. That’s more than the current $6 monthly/$60 annually for Hallmark Movies Now, but the retail perks (which include monthly $5 discounts at Hallmark Gold Crown stores) could help offset the extra cost for the streaming service.
Among the original programming set for Hallmark+ are the company’s first holiday-themed limited series, titled Holidazed and Mistletoe Murders; a series adaptation of KJ Dell’Antonia’s best-selling novel The Chicken Sisters; a movie trilogy titled Groomsmen; and unscripted shows including Finding Mr. Christmas — in which contestants vie for a leading role in a holiday movie — and Small Town Setup, where parents play matchmaker for their adult children.
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