• by Wayne Friedman , July 7, 2014

Hallmark Movie Channel will be getting a major facelift and a new name -- Hallmark Movies & Mysteries -- come this fall.

Much of the transformation comes as the channel looks to expand its original programming mix, which next year will include three Mystery Wheel movie franchises. Hallmark says it looks to take “an ownership claim on the soft side of the mystery genre.”

The company says it is dropping the "channel" word in the title of the network to reflect its other growing digital platform businesses.

This will all be part of a brand facelift due to start up October 1 for the Crown Media Family Networks group.

In the second quarter of 2014, Hallmark Movie Channel averaged 308,000 prime-time viewers, 39,000 women 25-54 viewers, and 35,000 18-49 viewers. In the first quarter of this year, HMC grew 30% to 322,000 prime-time viewers versus the same time period in 2013.

Susanne McAvoy, executive vice president of marketing, communications and creative for Crown Media Family Networks, stated: “Hallmark Movie Channel has evolved significantly over the past 24 months, and it was time to refresh the network with a new name and logo that better embody its brand promise and programming mix.”