Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (formerly known as Hallmark Movie Channel, but also known by HMM) is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by Crown Media Holdings. The channel was spun off from sister network Hallmark Channel, and airs family-oriented feature and television films along with a limited number of murder- and mystery-themed television series.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
LaunchedJanuary 20, 2004 (2004-01-20)
Owned byCrown Media Holdings
Picture format
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Broadcast areaNationwide
HeadquartersStudio City, Los Angeles, California
Formerly calledHallmark Movie Channel (2004–2014)
Sister channel(s)Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Drama
WebsiteOfficial website
Availability
Satellite
Orby TV122
Dish Network
  • 187 (HD/SD)
  • 9444 (HD)
DirecTV565 (HD)
Cable
Available on many cable systemscheck local listings
IPTV
Verizon FiOS
  • 739 (HD)
  • 239 (SD)
AT&T U-verse
  • 1366 (HD)
  • 366 (SD)
Streaming media
Frndly TVInternet Protocol television
PhiloInternet Protocol television
fuboTVInternet Protocol television
Sling TVInternet Protocol television

As of February 2015, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is available to approximately 55,827,000 pay television households (48% of households with television) in the United States.[1]

History

Hallmark Movie Channel

The Hallmark Movie Channel was launched in January 2004 as an outlet for additional movies and series available to the Hallmark Channel (HC) that the station did not have the airtime to run. Two series were initially picked up, with Magnum, P.I. available at launch and Diagnosis Murder available in January 2005.[2] Crown Media shifted showing their Mystery Movie film series in 2008 from Hallmark Channel to this channel as they were having more success with lighter romances.[3][4] On April 2, 2008, the channel was switched over to HD format.[5]

AT&T U-verse dropped Hallmark Channel and sister channel Hallmark Movie Channel on September 1, 2010 due to a carriage dispute.[6] As of July 23, 2015, both channels have returned to U-verse.[7] In July 2012 during a retransmission consent dispute with Hearst Television, the network was slotted by Time Warner Cable in place of Hearst's broadcast television stations as a 'free preview' and make-good for viewers until the dispute was settled.[8]

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

On March 14, 2014, Crown Media Holdings announced that Hallmark Movie Channel would be rebranded as Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in October 2014.[9] In rebranding, the company was trying to differentiate between the two channels, which feature different programming. With the new name, Hallmark reestablished a mystery wheel series under the name "Original Mystery Wheel" in 2015,[9] having previously had one on the Hallmark Channel from 2004 to 2008.[3][10]

After running several repeats of the Jesse Stone films in 2015, the channel agreed to pick up the next two films in the series from Sony Pictures Television.[11] On Monday, November 11, 2015, Hallmark Movie Channel started its first "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas" seasonal programming.[12]

On July 28, 2017, it was reported that Crown Media would add a brand new cable network titled Hallmark Drama, which launched on October 1, 2017, and a subscription video on demand streaming service titled Hallmark Movies Now on October 3 of the same year.[13][14]

Two new development deals along with new installments of existing movie series were announced by the channel. Al Roker signed a deal for his The Midnight Show Murders: A Billy Blessing Novel and Scandal inspiration Judy Smith, a crisis communications specialist, made a deal for the movie The Adjuster.[15]

Programming

The channel features mystery, western, and family-friendly movies and mini-series mainly from the Hallmark Channel library, notably original films that had once premiered on Hallmark Channel at an earlier date. The channel also features a small number of films from Hallmark Hall of Fame, Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures. Hallmark Movie Channel also broadcasts the McBride, Murder 101, Jane Doe, and Mystery Woman film series, as well as later Perry Mason and Matlock made-for-TV movies produced after the end of those series. In November and December, like Hallmark Channel, its schedule features all Christmas films.

Hallmark Movie Channel logo, 2004–2014

The first original movie to premiere on the channel was Son of the Dragon on April 2, 2008, and a handful of movies have since premiered on the channel.[16] In July 2010, the channel begin airing scripted television series to its schedule. These series currently include Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, The Good Wife, Hart to Hart, and Perry Mason.

  • "Mystery Wheel" is a movie wheel series started in 2015 after the rebranding of the channel. The original movies series were Garage Sale Mystery, Gourmet Detective[9] and Murder, She Baked based on Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Mystery series.[17]
  • “The Most Wonderful Miracles of Christmas",[18] originally "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas": On Monday, November 11, 2015, Hallmark Movie Channel started its first "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas" seasonal programming[12] duplicating the main Hallmark Channel's "Countdown to Christmas". Included is A Very Happy Yule Log, a Christmas Eve/Christmas Day loop made up of a yule log presentation with Happy the Cat and Happy the Dog. In 2017, “A Happy Yule Log” was broadcast on November 22 Thanksgiving Day, with abandoned piglet, Pip Squeak.[19]
  • Signature Mystery is a movie wheel series started in 2019 featuring Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, Garage Sale Mysteries', Morning Show Mysteries, Hailey Dean Mysteries, the new Chronicle Mysteries, “Crossword Mysteries” and “Picture Perfect Mysteries”.[20]

In March 2009, the network announced that it is partnering with the NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and TV to showcase short films by the school's students and alumni. The shorts will begin airing in October, and will also be available for viewing online at the network website www.hallmarkmoviechannel.com. Actor Alec Baldwin is a Tisch alum who will be one of the judges to determine which films appear on the network.[21][22]

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See also

References
  1. Seidman, Robert (February 22, 2015). "List of how many homes each cable network is in as of February 2015". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. Dempsey, John (November 12, 2003). "Hallmark launches pic outlet". Variety. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  3. "Another Cable Network Turns to Crime". Ad Age. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  4. Cogdill, Oline. "Hallmark Movies & Mysteries". Mystery Scene Magazine. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  5. Becker, Anne (March 26, 2008). "Hallmark Unveils Movies, Sister Channel to Go HD". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  6. Eggerton, John (September 1, 2010). "Hallmark Channels Go Dark On AT&T U-verse". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on September 5, 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  7. Steinberg, Brian (July 22, 2015). "Hallmark Channel Returns to U-verse After Nearly Five Years". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  8. Jones, Lloyd (July 11, 2012). "Hallmark Movie Channel to replace ABC for the foreseeable future". The Conway Daily Sun. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  9. Lewis, Hilary (March 13, 2014). "Hallmark Movie Channel Rebranding; The network will become Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and will get a new tagline and logo, starting in the fourth quarter of 2014". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  10. Steinberg, Brian (March 13, 2014). "Hallmark Movie Channel To Emphasize Mystery Dramas And Tweak Name". Variety. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  11. Littleton, Cynthia (March 6, 2015). "Tom Selleck Collars More 'Jesse Stone' Pics in Hallmark Pact". Variety. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  12. "Hallmark Movie Channel Inaugurates "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas" the Network's First-Ever Holiday Programming Slate" (Press release). September 24, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2018 – via TheFutonCritic.com.
  13. Umstead, Thomas (July 28, 2017). "TCA17: Crown Media to Launch Hallmark Drama Cable Network". MultiChannel News. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  14. Umstead, Thomas (July 31, 2017). "TCA17: Crown Media to Launch Hallmark Drama Cable Network". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  15. Ramos, Dino-Ray (July 31, 2017). "Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Announces Development Deals With Al Roker & Judy Smith". Deadline. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  16. "Hallmark Channel Press Release 8/8/07". Hallmark Channel Press Site.
  17. Cogdill, Oline. "Hallmark Movies & Mysteries". Mystery Scene Magazine. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  18. Snierson, Dan (September 11, 2017). "Hallmark Christmas Movies: Premiere Dates for 12 Films Revealed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  19. Turnquist, Kristi (24 December 2015). "TV Yule Log: How it started, and this year's options, from Darth Vader to Lil Bub". The Oregonian. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  20. Owen, Rob (February 10, 2019). "Tuned In: Hallmark plans spin-offs of 'Chesapeake Shores,' 'When Calls the Heart'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  21. "Hallmark Plans More Originals, Adds Short Films From NYU Students". EntertainmentCareers.net.
  22. "Tisch Partners with Hallmark Movie Channel". Tisch.NYU.edu. Archived from the original on 2009-04-02.
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