HALLMARK CHANNEL CONTINUES ON A WINNING STREAK FOLLOWING A RECORD-BREAKING "COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS" SEASON

Net's Newest Original Movie, Surprised by Love, Ranks #1 Among HH and Total Viewer Rating and Delivery

Kicking off the New Year to a stellar start, Hallmark Channel's newest original movie, Surprised by Love, garnered a 2.3 HH rating and 2.4 million total viewers. The film also boosted Hallmark Channel to be the #1 rated and most-watched cable network among HHs and total viewers in its time period. In addition, Surprised by Love marked the #1 HH rated movie of the week and made Hallmark Channel the #1 rated cable network in primetime among HHs.

The film comes on the heels of Hallmark Channel's most successful Countdown to Christmas campaign in network history. For nine straight weekends (11/1-12/28/14), Countdown to Christmas elevated Hallmark Channel to be the most watched cable network among W25-54 and HHs. The campaign also delivered the network's highest-rated and most-watched telecast of all time, with the Saturday, November 29th premiere of Christmas Under Wraps scoring a 5.0 HH rating and reaching 5.8 million total viewers. Additionally, the network experienced its highest rated and most watched day (11/29/14), week (11/24-11/30/14), and month (December 2014) ever among W25-54 during the course of Countdown to Christmas 2014. The campaign reached 66 million total viewers and made Hallmark Channel the #1 rated network in Total Day among W25-54 and HHs, and #2 in primetime among W25-54 and HHs for eight consecutive weeks.

"Following an exceptional Countdown to Christmas season, Hallmark Channel's original programming continues to drive ratings and viewership, underscoring just how much the network has come to mean in the lives of our viewers," said Michelle Vicary, executive vice president, programming & network publicity, Crown Media Family Networks. "These results, right out of the gate in 2015, are a great way to kick off the New Year and we look forward to building on this momentum over the next 12 months and beyond."

In Surprised by Love, Josie Mayfield (Hilarie Burton), a no-nonsense businesswoman working at her father's successful cookware company, thinks her boyfriend Richard is the perfect man - handsome, successful and driven. The problem is that Josie's parents, Joseph and Claire, do not agree. When Josie meets up with Gridley (Paul Campbell), an underachieving, old high school flame (who still has a crush on Josie), Richard dreams up a plan to make himself look good to Josie's parents: Gridley will be Josie's date at Joseph and Claire's upcoming anniversary party. When Joseph and Claire see Josie with a "loser," they'll give anything to have Richard back in the picture. At least, that's the plan. Over the anniversary party weekend, the plan goes awry in every way, and Josie must decide which direction her life - romantic and otherwise - is going to take.

Source: The Nielsen Company, October 31st, 2014 to January 4, 2015

ABOUT HALLMARK CHANNEL

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality family entertainment available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of 85 million subscribers. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading destination for quality family programming featuring an ambitious slate of original content, including movies; scripted series, such as Cedar Cove and When Calls the Heart; annual specials like Hero Dog Awards and Kitten Bowl; and a daily 2-hour lifestyle show, Home & Family. Hallmark Channel is also home to annual holiday franchise, Countdown to Christmas, featuring a lineup of 24/7 holiday programming, including The 12 New Movies of Christmas. Rounding out the networks' lineup are television's most beloved sitcoms and series, including The Golden Girls, The Middle, Little House on the Prairie, and Frasier. Hallmark Channel's sibling network, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, available in HD and SD, features a unique mix of content including original movies and acquired series that are dramatic in tone and focus on the lighter side of the mystery genre, as well as classic presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library.

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