A cable network is hoping its multifaceted arrangement with a pop diva will help bring a younger and more diverse audience to the channel. The New York Post reports that Hallmark Channel is all in with Mariah Carey for a series of holiday-themed events.

The singer is directing and starring in Hallmark’s original movie “A Christmas Melody,” and Hallmark is sponsoring a series of concerts by Carey in December at the Beacon Theater in New York. Carey will also ride on the channel’s first-ever float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Bill Abbott, CEO of Hallmark Channel owner Crown Media, told the publication: “She’s synonymous with Christmas. She does so much for our brand, and we are doing the same for her. We’re looking at future projects like greetings cards.”

Carey, a former “American Idol” regular who has had 18 No. 1 singles, has established a holiday identity through her performance of “All I Want for Christmas” and her “sexy Mrs. Claus” outfits, the report notes. Hallmark Channel, meanwhile, traditionally does well during the holiday season.

“The network has been expanding its hundreds of hours of Christmas-themed programming to draw marketers and consumers during the all-important shopping season,” the Post notes. “Some 74 million viewers tuned in to its Christmas slate last year when it was the No. 1 network during the day and second in prime time in its [target demo] of women 25 to 54 years old.”

In its promotional material for “A Christmas Melody,” Hallmark says of the movie: “Mariah Carey portrays a music teacher who helps a stressed-out young girl named Emily write a song she will sing at a town’s Christmas variety show. The girl has just moved with her mom to begin a new life just before the holidays. And the teacher does wonders to help with the adjustment process — also intervening to help her mother find love and happiness as well. Expect that Carey herself might also sing a song or two.”

The movie premieres Saturday, Dec. 19, on Hallmark Channel.

“A Christmas Melody” (Hallmark)