Hallmark Channel’s Diversity Push Will Alienate Traditional Fan Base

Hallmark — the channel that has mastered the art of the feel-good Christmas movie — isn’t known for its diversity. Plots usually center on the big-city girl who moves back home only to discover that the once-nerdy boy next door is hot, or the estranged siblings who uncover a heartwarming family secret, or the stiletto-heeled career-woman who discovers the reason for the season (love, duh). There are always baked goods and fake snow and beautiful cookie-cutter actors who were so obviously made for Hallmark, it’s almost ridiculous. Most of them, I’m convinced, were.

Stereotypes abound over at Hallmark. Recycled actors and reusable plot lines haven’t stopped us rom-com saps from watching the channel, even though we know what to expect every time the classic Christmasy cursive flashes across a title screen. During the week of November 22, Hallmark was the “second most-watched [channel] across all of cable in prime time,” Forbes reported. Feel-good entertainment has a massive audience. And as the network’s executive vice president, Lisa Hamilton Daly, has said, Hallmark’s mission is to exemplify a “purpose-driven life of love, of emotion, [and] of family.”

About the Author

Haley Strack

Haley Strack is a former staff writer at National Review.

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Hallmark — the channel that has mastered the art of the feel-good Christmas movie — isn’t known for its diversity. Plots usually center on the big-city girl who moves back home only to discover that the once-nerdy boy next door is hot, or the estranged siblings who uncover a heartwarming family secret, or the stiletto-heeled career-woman who discovers the reason for the season (love, duh). There are always baked goods and fake snow and beautiful cookie-cutter actors who were so obviously made for Hallmark, it’s almost ridiculous. Most of them, I’m convinced, were.

Stereotypes abound over at Hallmark. Recycled actors and reusable plot lines haven’t stopped us rom-com saps from watching the channel, even though we know what to expect every time the classic Christmasy cursive flashes across a title screen. During the week of November 22, Hallmark was the “second most-watched [channel] across all of cable in prime time,” Forbes reported. Feel-good entertainment has a massive audience. And as the network’s executive vice president, Lisa Hamilton Daly, has said, Hallmark’s mission is to exemplify a “purpose-driven life of love, of emotion, [and] of family.”