• by Wayne Friedman , November 7, 2014

Bucking some trends among major cable network groups, Crown Media Holdings said advertising revenues rose by double-digit percentage increases for its third-quarter reporting period.

Crown Media, the company of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, said there was a 12% gain in advertising sales to $71.4 million, with overall revenue 11% higher to $84.4 million. Net income grew 49% to $14.9 million.

The company said advertising moved higher as a result of pricing and ratings increases at both networks. For the nine months ending in September, ad revenue grew 10% to $216.6 million.

Subscriber fee revenues only rose 1% to $20.7 million during the third quarter, and 2% to $62.6 million for the first nine months of 2014.

Crown Media -- a smaller, independent cable network group -- says the Hallmark Channel continues to be the No. 1-rated cable network in Saturday’s 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. time period.

Hallmark’s marketing costs decreased $2.6 million to $1.4 million, due to favorable comparisons to higher spending a year ago in launching the first season of its highly rated series “Cedar Cove.”

Crown Media's mid-day stock price was down 0.2% to $3.36.