• by Wayne Friedman , March 9, 2007

Crown Media Holdings saw strong news in advertising revenues in the fourth quarter--up double-digit percentage increases.

Crown Media's main holding, Hallmark Channel, climbed 28% to $52 million--with subscribers' fees moving up at a slower rate of 16%, to $6.2 million. Hallmark has been trying to improve its cable-subscriber revenue. Many big cable networks yield about 50% of their revenues from ad sales and 50% from cable subscriber fees.

Crown Media also announced new deals with EchoStar and Mediacom. EchoStar will bring 5 million new homes for Hallmark Channel, giving the channel 80 million subscribers.

Overall, Crown Media Holdings narrowed its losses to $29.9 million for the period, versus $59.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. For the year, Crown Media's net loss grew to $388.9 million from $232.7 million in 2005. Net revenue for the fourth quarter slipped 3% to $58.4 million, from $60.5 million. The key change was lower license fees for its film library, which was sold in December 2006.

For the full year, Crown Media's total net revenue increased 2% to $201.2 million. Substantial growth was experienced in ad revenues, which increased 19% to $174.2 million. Subscriber fees increased 33% to $24.9 million.

For the fourth quarter, Henry Schleiff, president/CEO of Crown Media Holding, says advertising CPMs were up 40% over upfront ad deals, with strong business from movies, financial services and tourism.

Schleiff says the first-quarter 2007 advertising business is even better, with CPMs up 48% over upfront deals. During last year's upfront, CPM increases were up 36%. He noted that half the net's upfront advertisers are new clients.