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Hallmark Completes Upfront Deal With Starcom

May 20, 2008  •  Post A Comment

Hallmark Channel announced the first upfront deal of the buying season, completing a multimillion-dollar ad buy with media agency Starcom.
The deal covers Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel in high definition.
Bill Abbott, Hallmark Channel executive VP for ad sales, declined to talk about the precise size of the deal or how much of a price increase the channel was able to secure.
Most of Starcom’s clients are involved in the deal.
With its distribution increasing and its ratings rising, Hallmark’s ad sales have been skyrocketing. In its first-quarter earnings announcement, parent company Crown Media Holdings said ad revenues were up 23%.
Mr. Abbott said the network’s family-friendly programming, its high retention of viewers through commercial breaks and its willingness to work with advertisers on special promotions all factored into its early deal with Starcom.
“The Starcom and Hallmark Channel partnership has been positive for many years and we’ve worked hard to advance their advertisers’ messages,” Mr. Abbott said.
Starcom clients have been consistent advertisers on Hallmark Channel, working with the network on its “Every Day Is a Holiday” promotions, which include branded vignettes to make messages stand out from the clutter.
Mr. Abbott said he had no other imminent deals and said that overall the market appears to be in a quiet, “wait and see” mode as buyers and sellers assemble data on how much the shaky economy is going to affect spending plans in the upfront.
(Editors: Jensen, Baumann. Updated 1 p.m. to insert new Abbott quote.)

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