Original movies during the holiday season helped catapult the Hallmark Channel to one of the top 10 networks of 2004, according to year-end filings from owner and operator Crown Media Holdings Inc.
The Greenwood Village company last week reported fourth-quarter losses of $129 million, or $1.23 a share, for the period ending Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $36.3 million, or 35 cents a share, for the same quarter in 2003.
Year-end losses were $317 million, or $3.03 a share, compared with $205.1 million, or $1.96 a share, in 2003.
The negative 2004 results stem from charges related to the sale of its international versions of the Hallmark Channel and other assets.
The company was late filing its 2004 earnings because management needed more time to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley rules.
The Hallmark Channel’s U.S. subscriber base increased 15 percent in 2004 to 64.6 million from 56 million in 2003.
“The Hallmark Channel’s made an effort to attract a younger audience, more women in the 25-45 age range, as compared to older women,” spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said. “Younger viewers are more attractive to advertisers, and we’ve been successful.”
Women older than 45 are the core audience for the Hallmark Channel because “older women tend to be the more typical customer at Hallmark Crown stores,” Tucker said.
The Hallmark Channel ranked 10th in the U.S. for all of 2004, with an average household rating of 0.6, tying it with six other channels. The company attributes the achievement to the success of original programming aired during the holiday season.
Better ratings allow the channel to demand higher rates from advertisers – and that’s what the company is banking on, said Dennis McAlpine, managing director of McAlpine Associates, an independent research firm in Scarsdale, N.Y.
“Since the typical viewer only watches six or seven channels … I think the fact that they have a show (‘Out of the Wood’) that has a 3.6 rating means that people can find the channel,” he said. “And maybe viewers will get in the habit of coming back to the channel more in the future.”
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
