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CBS Sends Farewell Card To 'Hallmark Hall of Fame'

  • Variety, Friday, May 6, 2011 11:30 AM
In a "sign of the times for the telepic biz," CBS has cancelled its telecasts of the venerable  "Hallmark Hall of Fame" after a 16-year run, reports Brian Lowry in an exclusive.  The venerable TV-movie franchise began in 1951, spending 30 years on NBC and then brief runs on ABC and PBS before landing on CBS.  Over the past 60 years, 243 films have run under the "Hall of Fame" banner.

Lowry says that Hallmark, the greeting cards giant, passed on a CBS plan to carry its films on an ad hoc basis rather than the current three-times-a-year deal. CBS, with a strong Sunday night lineup, was finding it harder than ever to justify pre-emptions for movies, he notes.

Hallmark's  "feel-good" movies, Lowry write, have usually been scheduled a few weeks prior to Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day; carry fewer commercials than other network fare, and reach a heavily female audience.  Hallmark is now seeking a new home for "Hall of Fame," which it calls the "most-honored program" in TV history.

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