As streaming continues to take up a bigger piece of the TV viewing pie, it’s often smaller, independent cable networks that get left in the dust. But Hallmark President Darren Abbott is doing everything in his power to make sure the Christmas movie-peddling company isn’t one of them, instead doubling down on expanding its streaming arm.
Last Thursday, Hallmark+ debuted “Paris Is Always a Good Idea,” an exclusive streaming series that stars network staple Lacey Chabert as she reconnects with former flames after a work trip gets redirected by a message from her late mother. It’s one of the streamer’s biggest shows yet — both in production and viewership.
In its opening weekend, the series garnered nearly as many viewers as the streamer’s biggest hits, “When Calls the Heart” and spinoff “Hope Valley: 1874,” which became the streamer’s biggest launch to date and courted over a third of Hallmark+ subscribers. Hallmark would not disclose specific viewing numbers.
Even as Hallmark Channel celebrates its 25th anniversary as a cable network, and remains a popular destination during the holidays with its glut of feel-good Christmas movies, it’s seeing the same kind of drastic ratings decline that all linear TV is facing. “Paris Is Always a Good Idea” marks the boldest step in the media company’s attempt to reposition itself as a must-see streaming destination by competing with bigger-budget streaming projects. The hope is for the show to bring in new subscribers while keeping its existing base happy, especially as Hallmark and Hallmark-adjacent romance content is booming on bigger streamers like Netflix.
“When you get the content right, people will come over,” Abbott told TheWrap. “We know that as we consistently deliver really great content that our subscribers see as high value, it gives them something to look forward to. That’s a big part of our strategy going forward for Hallmark+, as we continue to build that out.”
Hallmark has embraced overseas production for several programming events and Christmas movies set in London and the Alps, but the series, which filmed in both France and Spain, is arguably one of its more ambitious projects when it comes to international production, and is a departure from the quick turnaround sets and shooting time that became a mainstay for cranking out the network’s holiday slate.
Abbott did not share financial figures associated with bringing production to Paris, but he noted the journey came with “production complexity” and “incremental costs.”
“We look at this more of what’s the right story [and] what’s the right way to tell that story authentically,” Abbott said. “You can’t have a series called ‘Paris Is Always a Good Idea’ without shooting it in Paris.”
The new series joins Hallmark+’s lineup of holiday movies as well as several original series exclusive to the streamer, giving its loyal audience what former Universal and Warner Bros. exec Paul Hardart calls a “clear pathway from traditional television to streaming.”
“Hallmark wants to remain a viable destination for [cord-cutters] as they make that transition,” Hardart told TheWrap via email. “By combining signature Hallmark programming, including its Christmas movies, with new streaming series, such as ‘Paris Is Always a Good Idea,’ the company is trying to evolve alongside its audience without abandoning the content and brand identity that built that loyalty in the first place.”
Streaming gains
The debut of “Paris Is Always a Good Idea” comes nearly two years after Hallmark+’s rebrand, which transformed the platform formerly known as Hallmark Movies Now to include exclusive shows and movies instead of just a repository for library content. The streamer has “exceeded every benchmark and metric that we’ve put in place” since, Abbott said, although he didn’t provide specific numbers.
Abbott also said Hallmark+ has the second-largest year-over-year growth — at 31% — compared to other niche streamers, which include AcornTV, AMC+, BritBox, PBS Masterpiece, Shudder, Starz, Discovery+ and more — but is still behind MGM+. He did not provide specifics on those numbers.
With Hallmark+ on the rise, Hallmark properties accounted for 0.8% of TV viewing in May, according to Nielsen’s media distributor Gauge. That percentage is elevated during Hallmark’s holiday boost, with December seeing the company’s piece of the pie rise to 1.2%.
In 2024, Hallmark executives shared their confidence that cord-cutters and the network’s audience would follow them into the streaming world. Now, Abbott noted Hallmark+ subscribers are made up both of viewers transitioning over from linear as well as new audiences altogether.
“I’ve been surprised,” he said, noting anecdotal feedback of viewers gathering to watch new releases on Hallmark’s linear channel and then watching them again on Hallmark+.
“We feel really good about the trajectory that this business is on, and as a result of this, it’s allowing us to invest even more into Hallmark+, meaning more exclusive content coming down the road, more unique benefits in our retail network and a more robust member experience across the board,” Abbott said.
The streamer has also embraced bundling plans with Starz that Abbott said are doing “very well” for the company.
As Hallmark aims to keep scaling up, Abbott revealed that the company is in the final stages of a beta test and a full launch of live streaming channels — from a one focus on Christmas to another based on mysteries — which aims to curate a “lean-back” experience akin to Hallmark’s existing linear channels. “There’s a lot of streaming-first consumers and members that love that experience,” Abbott said.
Alongside the Hallmark+ rebrand, the streamer also launched several reality TV titles in 2024, including the Jonathan Bennett-hosted “Finding Mr. Christmas,” in which actors competed to become the leading man in Hallmark’s next Christmas movie.
That unscripted push, however, might be hitting the brakes.
“I’m a big believer in iteration and innovation … and part of innovating successfully is being able to learn from what you’re doing, really zeroing in on the insights, and also acknowledging when things resonate and when they may not,” Abbott said, noting that several titles were “beloved by segments of our audience.”
“Relative to other parts of the service and other genres, you’ll probably see us lean more into scripted series, movies, exclusive content and probably less focus on unscripted moving forward,” he said.
Combatting linear decline
As linear TV continues its downward trend across the board, Abbott said the company sees Hallmark+ as its “growth platform … not only just for our media business, but really for the entire Hallmark enterprise.”
“Let’s be clear: linear cable is on decline. We’re navigating that. Our audience still is committed, and we are certainly committed to programming and delivering a great linear experience,” Abbott said, adding that commitment won’t falter as the company looks for growth elsewhere.
“We are certainly not moving away from linear, but we’re acknowledging that the industry has shifted. Brands that stay true to who they are and remember who their consumer is and what that consumer and audience wants, can have a very successful business in this space,” he said.
Still, the outlook for Hallmark’s linear channels isn’t too bad: the company is home to two of the top five most-watched cable entertainment networks among women 18+ year-to-date, with the Hallmark Channel standing as No. 2 and Hallmark Mystery being No. 4. Additionally, Hallmark Channel’s original series and movies rank as the most-watched programs on entertainment cable this year-to-date among total viewers and women 18+, per internal data from Hallmark.
And, thanks to licensing deals with Netflix and other platforms, Hallmark content is out in the streaming ecosystem in other ways. And while Hallmark+ is the focus, Abbott said the licensing strategy for select content is working well for them.
“It’s a good way for folks that may not watch the Hallmark Channel to sample some of our content, so … where it makes sense from a business standpoint, you’ll probably see us continue to experiment with business models like that,” he said. “It’s certainly part of the overall economics of of this business.”
With Hallmark+ investing in more shows like “Paris Is Always a Good Idea,” Abbott hinted that the company’s production models might shift slightly from the quick turnaround movies it has become known for.
“We can put things on the fast track and we can produce a movie pretty quickly, but … I’m certainly less focused on quantity over quality,” Abbott said. “I want us to be telling the right stories the right way, and sometimes that takes a little bit more time to get it right.”
But that doesn’t mean the Christmas movies will slow down, with the company recognizing the space as one of its unique strengths. Hallmark debuts 100 new original movies each year, and this year more than a third — 34 — are themed around the holidays, up 42% from last year. The number will be finalized when the full holiday slate is announced in September.
“Our fans can’t get enough Christmas movies from us in the fourth quarter,” Abbott said, noting that commercial-free delayed viewing on Hallmark+ has become “a big part of the way our fans view our content.”
What’s ahead
Beyond the bigger 2026 Christmas slate, Abbott teased the company’s third partnership film with the NFL (this time with the Chicago Bears), a collaboration with the Walt Disney Co. and another story in the “Biltmore” film franchise.
Those partnerships are one of two areas Abbott identified for growth. “We’ve got several other ideas that we’re working on behind the scenes that I’m really excited about,” he said. “It’s a way to break through into the cultural conversation, and it dimensionalizes the Hallmark brand in new ways, so that’s going to be a core part of our playbook going forward.”
The other area Abbott pointed to was continuing to differentiate the user and membership experience around Hallmark+, which extends from the streaming platform into benefits on Hallmark retail products.
“A lot of other CPG and retail brands are now getting into the entertainment space — we were doing that 25 years ago. We knew that there was a need for storytelling and content that was grounded in the core DNA of the Hallmark brand: goodness, positivity, care and connection,” Abbott said. “That’s always stood as the enduring foundation of the content that that we’re creating.”
The retail side of the business might help Hallmark as it manages the transition to streaming “in a way that preserves audience loyalty while maximizing the long-term value and profitability of those customers,” Hardart said.
“The challenge going forward is that Hallmark+ will increasingly have to justify itself against a crowded field of streaming services — not only through the strength and distinctiveness of its content, but also through its subscription price and its ability to attract and retain customers while limiting churn,” he added.
In other words, more than just Christmas movies. Like, perhaps, an idyllic TV show set in Paris.
