HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL ANNOUNCES Q1 AND Q2 PROGRAMMING SLATE AT WINTER 2012 TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION PRESS TOUR

Robust Schedule Includes Five Hallmark Movie Channel Original Films

Hallmark Movie Channel announced its Q1 and Q2 programming schedule to attendees of the Winter 2012 Television Critics Association Press Tour today with a schedule that includes five original films, and blockbuster movie events for which the young network is becoming known.

This year, the production slate for HMC doubles and will continue to double year over year until the network reaches between 24-30 titles annually.

"Hallmark Movie Channel continues its pace to become America's most sought-after, family friendly movie channel," said Michelle Vicary, EVP, Programming, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel.

"Our second linear network is now in 45 million homes and remains one of the fastest growing emerging cable television networks in the country.

"As we build our library of HMC Originals, viewers will see all the ways our two family friendly networks differentiate themselves - Hallmark Channel, a big, general entertainment network with lifestyle, classic series and original movies that focus on celebrations, occasions, family and holidays, and Hallmark Movie Channel, a 24/7 dedicated movie network with diverse film genres including mysteries, westerns, coming-of-age dramas, epic fantasies, science fiction, social dramas, love stories and comedies," Vicary concluded.

Hallmark Movie Channel's original movie offerings for Q1 and Q2 include:

GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE: THE MEASURE OF A MAN, a Hallmark Movie Channel Original, Saturday, January 28 @ 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7c, starring Luke Perry and Stephanie Von Pfetten. The story of a fair and favorable Circuit Judge who is hellbent on justice as he travels to a Wyoming territory that is being terrorized by a gang of thieves, and runs into an old flame in the process. As he sets out to help the town find and prosecute the murderous bandits before they strike again, a series of long-kept secrets are revealed about their identities, making the case all too personal to the judge, and testing his limits of loyalty.

DUKE, a Hallmark Movie Channel Original, Saturday, April 28 @ 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7C, starring Steven Weber, Sarah Smyth and Allison Hossack. A disabled veteran abandons his wife and young daughter soon after returning home from war, feeling like nothing but a burden. For ten years, his relies on his faithful canine companion, a compassionate Border Collie, as his only family. But when the dog suddenly gets deathly ill, he anonymously drops him off at a vet clinic, never expecting a chain of events and a kindhearted doctor will soon bring him back in touch with his estranged daughter after so many years.

LAKE EFFECTS, a Hallmark Movie Channel Original, Saturday, May XX, 8 p.m. ET/PT/7C, starring Jane Seymour, Ben Savage, Sean Patrick Flanery, Casper Van Dien, Scottie Thomas, Jeff Fahey and Madeline Zima. A high powered attorney on her way to the top reluctantly returns to her childhood home on the enchanting Smith Mountain Lake to attend her father's funeral and help her sister and mother settle the family estate. While there, Sara's love for the lake and the townspeople is reignited, and with the help of her father's ever present spirit, Sara looks inward, discovers the importance of love and family, and gives her all to save the family's beloved home.

HANNAH'S LAW, a Hallmark Movie Channel Original, Saturday, June 9 @ 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7C, starring Sara Canning, Kimberly Elise, Danny Glover, Billy Zane and Greyston Holt. In the old West, a tough-as-nails bounty hunter hunts down the outlaw who brutally killed her family a decade earlier with his dangerous gang. With help from her friends, including the two men who are competing for her heart, she enters a dramatic showdown where a powerful secret is revealed about her family that will suddenly alter her lifelong course for revenge.

ALWAYS A BRIDE, a Hallmark Movie Channel Original, Saturday, July 21 @ 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7C, starring Kellie Martin and Ethan Erickson. Straight-laced Jordan Brady is all set for a low-key bachelorette weekend in Vegas until she wakes up after a late-night out and discovers she married celebrity Matt Swift by mistake. Jordan works as fast as she can to annul the marriage, keep her engagement intact, and fight off a barrage of unwanted press. But she finds herself more confused than ever when she starts falling in love with the movie star she's married to instead of the fiancé she thought was her perfect match.

Hallmark Movie Channel, the second linear channel from Crown Media Holdings, Inc., simulcast in SD (Standard Definition) and HD (High Definition), is a 24-hour cable network dedicated to bringing viewers family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies and special events. In today's crowded television landscape, the network is a unique and captivating entertainment experience, providing programming families can watch together.

It is now available in 45 million homes. Crown Media also operates Hallmark Channel which provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 87 million subscribers.