Hallmark Sells 85% of Upfront Sales Inventory
Network Boosts Upfront Revenue with CPM Gains
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 7/12/2007 6:42:00 PM
While Hallmark Channel made headlines at the Television Critics Association summer press tour Thursday with news of a 50% rise in its original-movie slate for 2008, executive vice president of advertising sales Bill Abbott had the number 85 on his mind, as in the fact that the family-friendly channel had completed more than 85% of its upfront activity as of Thursday afternoon.
Abbott said Hallmark got into the annual Madison Avenue bazaar in earnest last week, with deals continuing to wrap during the first half of this week.
Much of the business was written with CPM (cost per thousand homes) gains in the “high single-digits, with some in the low double-digits,” said Abbott, putting Hallmark’s overall upfront revenue advance in the 20% range.
As has been the case for much of the broadcast and cable networks this upfront, Abbott said “C3” -- average commercial ratings, plus three days of digital-video-recorder playback -- was the currency that drove deals for Hallmark.
Noting that Hallmark benefits from engaged 25- to 54-year-old viewers and a very high commercial-retention audience index, C3 worked very well for the service. “We embraced that. We only lose 3%-4%. We're near the top of cable [relative to audience retention],” Abbott said.
The ad-sales veteran stated that agencies and clients were attracted by the network’s family-friendly positioning; a distribution base that now stands at some 85 million subscribers; opportunities to leverage marketing programs with Hallmark Gold Crown Stores; and a telefilm slate that will jump from 20 titles in 2007 to 30 next year. In addition, he said, a number of advertisers established base deals with Hallmark Movie Channel, which is expected to reach the 10 million-subscriber plateau in the fourth quarter.
Relative to categories, Abbott said Hallmark performed well with retailers and the entertainment sectors and “really broke QSR [quick-serve restaurant]. Historically, that’s been a challenge for us.”
All told, Hallmark will sell about 50% of its inventory during the upfront, retaining a plentiful supply of avails for what Abbott envisions will once again be a strong scatter market.
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