• by Wayne Friedman , November 1, 2013

With the help of its newer Hallmark Movie Channel, Crown Media Holdings said advertising revenue grew by 10% during the third quarter.

Advertising revenues for the independent cable network group -- which includes the bigger Hallmark Channel -- climbed to $63.6 million during the period, outpacing subscriber fee revenue, which grew 6% to $20.5 million.

Overall revenue climbed 10% to $84.4 million, with net income at $10.0 million -- down about 13% from $11.5 million in the third quarter of 2012. The group witnessed a 15% hike in cost of services for the period to $38.1 million.

In addition, programming costs rose 14% to $33.1 million thanks to its new “Cedar Cove” series -- Hallmark Channel’s first original scripted series, which the company says averaged a Nielsen 2.0 household rating over its first 13-episode season.

Marketing expenses for the company rose sharply, largely as a result of advertising for the new “Cove” series at $3.99 million, up from $430,000 in the third quarter of 2012.

In early Friday trading, Crown Media Holdings was up 0.4% to $3.33.