Hallmark Channel Adds to Line-Up

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Crown Media Holdings Inc.’s Hallmark Channel acquired the U.S. rights to a 39-film slate films from Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution, including the network television premiere of the Academy Award-winning documentary, “March of the Penguins,” the company announced this week.


The acquisition is the channel’s largest ever, and includes the network television premiere of “Troy,” featuring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, as well as feature films “Miss Congeniality,” “The In-Laws,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “New York Minute,” and “Samantha: An American Girl Holiday.”


“This movie package is the next major step for us as we continue to offer an unparalleled viewing destination that appeals to the contemporary family, and is a key element in our goal to become the most-watched cable network,” said Scott Anderson, senior vice president of acquisitions and programming, in a statement.


The deal is good news for the company, which recently witnessed the departure of two key executives David Evans, Crown’s president and chief executive and Chris Moseley, the Hallmark Channel’s veteran executive vice president and chief marketing officer. News of the departures sent the company’s stock tumbling 7 percent last month.


The Hallmark Channel had been up for sale since last summer, pulled itself off the market in April. The company reported last month that it had cut its first quarter losses on an 11 percent increase in revenue and identified $10 million in annual cost savings. Crown lost $47.2 million, or 45 cents a share, on revenues of $45 million. For the same quarter last year, the company lost $50.9 million, or 49 cents a share, on revenues of $40.6 million.


A company spokeswoman last month said the company was exploring a sale of its library, a 600-title archive presently valued at $380 million.

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