Hallmark Media says it will soon debut a new streaming service, called Hallmark Plus, that will offer access to its original series and films for $8 per month.
The streaming service will be the first point of distribution for a slate of new Christmas-themed miniseries and reality shows. Around 300 Hallmark films will also be made available through the service, and a subscription will earn customers coupons for Hallmark Gold Crown stores that unlock $5 discounts, free greeting cards and other perks.
“This is a seminal moment for us,” Mike Perry, Hallmark’s CEO, told the New York Times in an interview. “We continue to be committed to linear cable, which is going to be a good business for us for a long time. But there is an enormous opportunity in streaming, in part because of the strength of our brand and the unique way we are combining Hallmark+ with membership rewards — connecting our business segments in ways they haven’t recently been.”
Hallmark is one of the few media companies that has avoided a direct-to-consumer streaming service, choosing instead to distribute its three linear channels over cable, satellite and some budget-conscious streaming services like Philo and Frndly TV. Two years ago, it made a pact with Comcast’s NBC Universal to debut live feeds of its cable channels through Peacock, one of the first such arrangements involving a video on-demand streaming service.
But with cable and satellite subscriptions declining, Hallmark feels the time is right to bring its content to a new platform in a new way.
“With what’s happening within the industry, it’s not prudent to just think we’ll be OK on linear cable,” Perry said.
