Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Nov. 8-14, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Once again, the National Football League is the most-watched programming on TV, with 5.87% of minutes watched during the week of Nov. 8-14 (up slightly from last week’s 5.82%). NFL RedZone also puts points on the board, with 0.37% of minutes watched, which is 22nd among all programming for the week.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• College football remains in second by minutes watched, with 3.73% on the week, while college basketball’s return scores 0.52% of watch time (10th overall).
• ABC’s airing of the 55th Annual CMA Awards is No. 15, with 0.42% of minutes watched.
• NCIS: New Orleans jumps from No. 49 to No. 21 week-over-week, and fellow procedural Blue Bloods also returns to the top 25, moving up from No. 26 to No. 24.
• ABC World News Tonight with David Muir is new to this week’s ranking as well, climbing from No. 28 to No. 25.

Also: Fall 2021 TV Premiere Dates

CBS hurdles up to No. 1 with a big assist from an NFL doubleheader on Sunday, and Alabama football on Saturday. The network secured 8.41% of minutes watched on the week, up from 6.75% the week prior.

More insights around the most-watched networks during the week:

• The big four broadcast networks reshuffle at the top of our rankings, with CBS jumping to No. 1, ABC moving up from No. 4 to No. 3, and Fox moving from No. 1 to No. 4 week-over-week.
• TBS darts up from No. 21 to No. 17 thanks to its fleet of syndicated sitcoms including Friends, The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon.
• Discovery is the lone week-over-week newcomer to our ranking, moving up from No. 26 to No. 24 by minutes watched.
• While neither Hallmark nor Hallmark Movies & Mysteries change places in the ranking, both increased watch-time on the week — with Hallmark leaping from 2.95% to 3.15%, and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries increasing from 1.29% to 1.30%, all on the back of holiday-themed programming.

Also: Fox Is Selling 2023 Super Bowl Spots as Sports Ad Market Heats Up

Hallmark’s continued growth by share of watch-time is an obvious boon for the network as it has staked out a corner of the holiday season that is all its own. Compared to this time last year, Hallmark is earning a greater share of minutes watched, and advertisers have taken notice as well.

Data from iSpot, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company, shows advertisers are already all-in on both Hallmark and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries to try and catch holiday audiences in a shopping mood.

Since Nov. 1, retailers have swarmed both cable channels with holiday ads. Retail brands made up nearly 20% of all TV ad impressions across both networks, compared to about 17% for the same time period in 2020. For some advertisers, Hallmark programming is a key part of their TV ad strategy this holiday season. Christmas tree brand Balsam Hill, for example, has nearly 50% of its November TV ad impressions so far (and 56% of its 2021 impressions to date) coming from Hallmark and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Below is a list of the Hallmark and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries programming generating the most impressions since Nov. 1:

1. Gingerbread Miracle (721 million TV ad impressions)

2. Next Stop, Christmas (621 million)

3. My Christmas Family Tree (545 million)

4. Open By Christmas (504 million)

5. Christmas Sail (478 million)

All of those are new holiday movies for 2021, with more new titles slated for the rest of November and into December.

Crown Media has struck a deal with YouTube TV to launch its suite of networks on the streaming service.

YouTube TV already streams the company's VOD offering, Hallmark Movies Now, as an option, but it will now offer Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama over the top.

The move comes as Hallmark continues to score with its Countdown to Christmas marathon that began even before Halloween.

“Our content, rooted in celebration, joy, optimism, and human connection, has never been more in demand, and we are confident the addition of Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama adds tremendous value to YouTube TV’s offerings and will be instant favorites among subscribers,” Crown Media president Wonya Lucas said.

“We’re excited to partner with Crown Media Family Networks to deliver all three of Hallmark’s linear channels to our YouTube TV members, including Hallmark Channel,” said Paul Snow, co-head of YouTube TV content partnerships. “We know that our members love this content, and it's the perfect time to introduce these channels to YouTube TV as we head into the holiday season.”

Crown Media will create a slate of films targeted to African-American audiences under its Hallmark greeting card brand, the company said Wednesday.

Toni Judkins, senior VP of programming development for Crown Media, will spearhead the initiative, which will launch in 2022 as a quarterly slate of original movies airing on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries under the Mahogany brand, which is rooted in the three decade-old, Hallmark greeting card line of the same name, said company officials. Crown plans to eventually expand the initiative into scripted series and podcasts. 

Also Read: Telling Stories Sans Stereotype 

“This launch marks a pivotal moment in our evolution as we continue to bring the Hallmark brand to life in new ways,” Crown Media President & CEO Wonya Lucas said in a statement. “In addition, it’s a huge step forward in our mission to deliver more diverse, inclusive content representing various cultures and perspectives that resonates with our current audience and attracts new viewers.” 

Added Judkins: “Mahogany is an expression of all the love, joy, and complexities that emerge from the distinctive journey of Black people. It is a dream realized to create a content experience around this Hallmark brand that honors, empowers, and authentically captures Black culture and amplifies our voice.”

Also Read: Crown Media Debuts Countdown to Christmas Widget 

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of  Feb. 22-28, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Sports continue to capture the most watch-time, led by college basketball (1.56% of all minutes watched), followed by NBA games (1.16%) and PGA Tour Golf (0.92%). SportsCenter also saw increased viewership (0.51%), up to No. 13 from No. 23 the previous week. Thanks in part to marathons, Home Town and The First 48 jumped up the ranking, to No. 10 and No. 23, respectively. Aside from college basketball, only three other programs maintained their ranking week-over-week: Good Morning America, Ridiculousness and ABC World News Tonight With David Muir.

Thanks in part to PGA Tour Golf and the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC rose into first place with 6.84% of minutes watched during the week. Hallmark had the biggest ranking jump compared to the previous week, up to No. 10 from No. 16, with help from marathons of The Golden Girls. Chart newcomers compared to the previous week included MTV and A&E, taking No. 24 and No. 25, respectively, fueled by marathons of their own (Ridiculousness and The First 48).

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

College basketball squeezed past the NBA to take first place for TV ad impressions, with games generating over 1.44 billion impressions vs. 1.41 billion. PGA Tour Golf took third place with 778 million impressions, a 50.12% week-over-week increase. The 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards generated 346.8 million TV ad impressions while American Idol, which aired at the same time, generated 282 million impressions.

CBS maintained its first-place position, receiving slightly more TV ad impressions (5.2 billion) compared to the previous week (4.9 billion), driven in part by new episodes of The Price Is Right, The Young and the Restless and CBS This Morning — although college basketball also contributed 351 million TV ad impressions to the network’s total. Golf rose up the ranking to No. 12 with 511.1 million TV ad impressions, 67% of which came from PGA Tour broadcasts. HGTV also saw a week-over-week increase, up to 446.2 million impressions from the previous week’s 379.8 million, with Home Town delivering the top impression-count for the network (89.1 million).

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Feb. 15-21, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Various sports marched up the ranking, led by college basketball which took first place for watch-time (1.19%). NBA games captured 1.15% of all minutes watched, putting it in third place, while PGA Tour golf grabbed 0.82%, securing it No. 5. NHL hockey squeaked into the ranking at No. 25 with 0.38% of all minutes watched. After a week off, Ridiculousness came back into the top 25 in seventh place, while Rizzoli & Isles jumped from No. 43 to No. 24 week-over-week.

On the network side of things, ABC and NBC both rose up the ranking, taking first and second places with 6.70% and 6.65% of watch-time, respectively, while CBS slipped to third (6.61%). Among the networks that maintained ranking positions: Fox (No. 4), ESPN (No. 9), the Discovery Channel (No. 22) and Lifetime (No. 23); Hallmark had the biggest week-over-week drop, down to No. 16 from No. 10. Bravo was the one newcomer compared to the previous week, at No. 24 with 1.07% of minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Impression-counts for both NBA and college basketball games stayed mostly steady week-over-week, and as such, they remained in first and second place, respectively. The Price Is Right jumped into third place with 734.1 million TV ad impressions, a 25.58% increase from the previous week. That show, along with The Young and the Restless, were the only non-sports or news programs in the top 10. Weather Channel’s live coverage of Winter Storm Shirley came in at No. 14 with 397.8 million TV ad impressions, while The Bachelor generated 330.6 million impressions, putting it at No. 22. American Idol just missed the ranking, coming in at No. 26 (292 million TV ad impressions).

Once again, CBS took first place on the network ranking with 5 billion TV ad impressions, followed by ABC (4.6 billion). Fox News was third with 4 billion, a 20.13% week-over-week increase. Bravo picked up steam, with a 16.43% increase in impressions from the previous week, thanks in part to Below Deck, while TNT rebounded compared to the week before, with 426.4 million of its 536 million TV ad impressions coming from NBA basketball games. MTV rounded out the ranking with 249.6 million TV ad impressions, fueled in part by The Challenge and Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.

Hallmark said its political action committee, HALLPAC, supports government officials "from a wide variety of viewpoints—including Democrats, Republicans and Independents." But there are a couple whose viewpoints have proven too wide for Hallmark to get its arms around.

Also Read: Comcast Suspends Contributions

That comes in the wake of the storming of the Capitol Jan. 6 by Trump supporters while Congress was counting the electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden and some Republicans, led by Sens Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), from Hallmark's home state, were objecting to the count and calling for a commission to study the President's claims, rejected by dozens of courts and proffered on no evidence beyond conspiracy theories, of widespread election fraud.

Also Read: USTelecom Suspends PAC Bucks to Candidates

"Hallmark believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind," the company said, known best for family friendly movies and mysteries and iconically heartwarming card commercials, said in a statement. "The recent actions of Senators Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall [R-Kan.] do not reflect our company’s values. As a result, HALLPAC requested Sens. Hawley and Marshall [who also challenged the Biden victory] to return all HALLPAC campaign contributions."

Also Read: AT&T Suspends Funding for GOP Election Vote Challengers

That Hallmark request is a variation on a theme, the theme being a groundswell of companies--banks, AT&T, Comcast--suspending their PAC contributions to all the republicans--there were close to 150 in the House and Senate--who supported electoral vote count objections.

Crown Media Family Networks said that its subscription video on demand service, Hallmark Movies Now, has become available via YouTube TV.

YouTube TV subscribers can get Hallmark Movies Now as an add-on option for $5.99 a month, following a seven-day free trial.

The offering comes as the holiday season approaches, along with the service’s Movies and Mistletoe event chockablock with Christmas-themed content.

Also Read: Allison Bennett Upped at Crown Media

Launched in 2017, Hallmark Movies Now, provides access to nearly 1,000 hours of commercial-free Hallmark branded original content. 

Hallmark Movies Now is also available on iOS, Android, Roku and Amazon Fire platforms.

The cable news networks continue to dominate the weekly ratings charts as Fox News, CNN and MSNBC take the top spots on the primetime and total day charts, according to Nielsen.

Fox News regained the top spot in primetime, averaging 3.4 million viewers during the week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 15 to top the 2.3 million viewers garnered by CNN, which took the top spot in the category last week, according to Nielsen. MSNBC finished a close third with 2.2 million viewers.

Cable news shows represented all but five of the top 50 most-watched shows for the week, led by Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Tonight. 

Related: Trump Reportedly Looking to Take on Fox News with Streaming Channel

ESPN finished fourth for the week in primetime with 2.1 million viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel with 1.6 million viewers.

CNN topped the total day charts for the second straight week, topping Fox News and MSNBC. Hallmark Channel and ESPN rounded out the top five most-watched networks on a 24-hour basis, said Nielsen. 

Fox News was the overwhelming choice of cable viewers during the month of May, topping both the primetime and total day charts for a month dominated by news of the COVID-19 virus and protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, according to Nielsen.

Fox News averaged 3.4 million viewers in primetime during the week of April 27-May 31, easily topping MSNBC, which finished the month with 1.9 million viewers and CNN, which had its best May ever with 1.6 million viewers, said Nielsen.

HGTV and TLC tied for fourth place with 1.2 million viewers, while History finished the month in fifth place with 970,000 viewers. TBS (967,000), A&E Network (938,000), Discovery Channel (857,000), and Hallmark Channel (844,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for May.

Fox News topped the total day chart with 1.8 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1.1 million viewers) and CNN (1 million), said Nielsen. 

Fox News finished the first quarter of 2019 as the most watched cable network in primetime and on a total day basis, according to Nielsen.

Fox News averaged 2.4 million viewers during the period of Dec. 31 to March 31 to take the top spot in primetime, according to Nielsen. The network was paced by the strong performance of Hannity, which finished the quarter as the most watched cable news show during the 9 -10 pm timeslot with an average of 3.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

MSNBC finished second with 1.9 million viewers, followed by ESPN (1.6 million viewers), HGTV (1.3 million) and TBS (1.2 million), according to Nielsen.

USA Network, History, Hallmark Channel and TNT all tied for fifth place with 1.1 million viewers, with CNN, Investigation Discovery and Discovery Channel rounding out the top 10 most watched networks for the month.

On a 24-hour basis, Fox News finished first with 1.4 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1 million), Nickelodeon (769,000), HGTV (752,000), Investigation Discovery (743,000) and ESPN (726,000), said Nielsen. 

Fox News Channel continued its domination of the cable network ratings race with a sweep of the October primetime and total day charts, according to Nielsen.

Fox News was the most watched cable network among total viewers for the month (Oct. 1-28), averaging 2.8 million viewers, said Nielsen. The win marked Fox News’ fifth consecutive primetime monthly ratings win.

ESPN finished second for 2.6 million viewers, followed by TBS Network (2.4 million), MSNBC (1.5 million), and FS1 (1.3 million).

USA Network, Hallmark Channel and HGTV (all tied with 1.1 million), CNN (931,000) and TNT (911 million) rounded out the top 10.

Fox News also finished first on a total day basis for the 28th consecutive month, followed by ESPN, MSNBC, Nickelodeon, TBS and Hallmark Channel, according to Nielsen. 

As a strong upfront wraps up, one of the smallest cable programmers might have gotten the biggest greeting from advertisers.

Crown Media, which runs the Hallmark Channels, posted a double-digit increase in dollar volume while at the same time holding out for — and getting — double-digit increases in prices.

The warm reception came even though its upfront dinner in March was snowed out.

“Despite the snowstorm, I think our message got through,” Ed Georger, Crown’s executive vice president for ad sales, said. Crown’s upfront sales “reflect that our advertising partners believe in what we’re doing.”

The upfront’s results can be hard to gauge. Most networks won’t talk about ad sales, except on earnings calls. Even when sales executives like Georger speak on the record, they rarely offer precise numbers.

Turning Up the Volume

Cable-network volume rose by 4.7% to $11.1 billion, per preliminary estimates from Market Dynamics. The price to reach adults in 30-second spots rose 9.7% to a $17.49 cost per thousand viewers (CPM).

“I think linear television still continues to deliver for a lot of marketers,” Georger said. “Perhaps it’s got something to do with brand safety or some of the cautionary tales that we’ve heard about some of the other platforms.”

Unlike most networks, Crown Media’s Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries are growing their viewership, giving them more ratings points to sell. It has also been increasing its original programming, with more than 100 original movies on its slate in addition to its three series.

Hallmark Channel’s strategy of programming toward the holidays helps make it the top-rated cable channel during the fourth quarter, when advertisers are seeking Christmas season sales. It also provides hooks for advertisers who want to make their commercial messages relevant around Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or wedding season in June.

For its daytime show, Home & Family, the house on the Universal Studios lot that serves as a set is being renovated, and several advertisers have signed on as sponsors. “We’ve also created a Dream Holiday Home Decorating Contest,” Georger said. “Those are a couple of new opportunities that brought value to the marketplace.”

Even with the double-digit increases in prices, Georger said the Hallmark Channels are still a bargain relative to other networks. “We are still undervalued in the market, but it’s great to see our partners recognizing our success and rewarding us, not only incumbent business but some new categories as well,” he said.

Fresh advertiser categories on Hallmark include theatrical films, imported autos and quick service restaurants.

Georger didn’t think that Crown Media’s lack of scale was a problem in the upfront. “We pride ourselves on being very nimble,” he said. “Bill Abbott is right down the hall, and he’s our CEO who used to be in ad sales. We can work through our company very quickly.

“Bigger companies have a lot of goals, strategies and objectives, and some of them conflict,” he added. “We were complimented often on the process of negotiating with Crown Media, this year in particular.”

With its rising ratings, Crown Media didn’t push for new metrics or the fancy data being pushed by programmers like Turner.

But according to people familiar with the situation, Turner was able to achieve its objective of getting more of its advertising clients to put money into campaigns based on data-driven target audiences instead of the traditional age and gender demographics.

Targeted Spending Rises

Turner clients committed to spending five times as much on target audience-based campaigns in this year’s upfront, compared with a year ago.

Clients also increased their commitments to Turner’s digital platforms, including video-on-demand and over-the-top.

Turner parent Time Warner was recently acquired by AT&T, which has ambitious plans to use the programmer’s data to boost the yield on Turner’s ads.

From a traditional point of view, Turner got higher prices for advertising, garnering low double-digit gains, and an increase in dollar volume in the low-to-mid-single digits.

On its earnings call last week, AMC said it collected high single-digit price increases in its upfront sales.

“We saw healthy demand and healthy volume across all of our networks,” chief operating officer Ed Carroll said. He noted that this year’s market moved quickly for AMC.

“It was as fast as any in recent memory and I think a contributing factor to that was an eagerness among advertisers to get their money down next to quality content,” Carroll said.

Advertisers were also taking advantage of AMC’s audience targeting system, which clients in the auto, quick-service restaurant and movie businesses signed up for during the upfront. “We are finding that our proprietary advanced data platform is effective for us, particularly in increasing volume among our highest-CPM advertisers,” he said.

On the strength of live sports and holiday programming fare, ESPN and Hallmark closed out the final week of 2017 as the most watched cable networks in primetime, according to Nielsen.

ESPN was the most watched network for the holiday week of Dec. 25 to Dec. 31 with 6.4 million viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel, which averaged 2.2 million viewers on the appeal of its Holiday-themed original movies slate.

Fox News was third with 1.5 million viewers, followed by USA Network (1.4 million viewers) and TNT (1.3 million), according to Nielsen.

ESPN and Hallmark also finished first and second respectively, on a 24-hour basis, followed by Fox News, Nickelodeon and Discovery Channel.

Fox News was topped all cable news networks for the week, followed by MSNBC (1 million viewers) and CNN (732,000 viewers,) according to Nielsen.

Fox News was the most watched cable network last week despite stiff competition from networks offering sports and holiday programming.

Fox News averaged 2.6 million viewers to top all cable networks during the week of Dec. 4 to Dec. 10, according to Nielsen. The news network beat out holiday programming-focused network Hallmark Channel, which drew 2.5 million viewers, and 24-hour sports network ESPN, which averaged 2.4 million watchers to finish in third place.

MSNBC (1.9 million viewers) and Freeform (1.4 million viewers) rounded out the top five.

Fox News unseated Hallmark to finish in first place on a 24-hour basis for the week, with MSNBC, Nickelodeon and ESPN followed closely behind, reported Nielsen.

Hallmark Channel said Monday that Andie MacDowell (Cedar Cove) and Chad Michael Murray will indeed be co-starring in a new Hallmark Hall of Fame original film, The Beach House.

The film, about a woman who returns to her Southern roots to find love and save sea turtles, has begun production and will premiere in May 2018, according to the Channel. It had originally been announced for a 2016 release.

 “I love the connection to nature, preservation and saving turtles, and so I am grateful to Hallmark Channel, our wonderful cast, Dan Wigutow, Sue Tenney, and one of my favorite authors Mary Alice Monroe,” said MacDowell of the role when the film was announced.

Beach House is an adaptation of the Mary Alice Monroe novel series. Executive producers are Wigutow and Stephen Harmaty. Maria Nation and Tippi & Neal Dobrofsky will do the adaptation.

Highly touted Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball won’t play his first nationally televised regular season National Basketball Association game until Oct. 19. But 8 million Facebook Watch users already know who Ball is — along with his loquacious father, LaVar, and his talented siblings — after they tuned in last month to the first episode of the social media site’s new sports reality series, Ball in the Family.

That makes Ball only the latest face both on the court and in a unique content sub-genre. Active and former professional athletes are scoring on the basic cable, reality docuseries field through popular, social media-friendly unscripted shows that focus on the often-unpublicized personal lives of players.

Series such as VH1’s long-running series Basketball Wives — which follows the wives, ex-wives and girlfriends of star NBA players — and E!’s Total Divas, which chronicles the out-of-ring exploits of pro wrestling outfit WWE’s female Superstars, are shining a rare, off-the-field spotlight on famous athletes that’s usually reserved for pop entertainment stars and celebrities.

Related: The Unscripted TV Issue >‘Live PD’ Draws Viewers, and Not All Watch Live

Network executives and show producers said such shows offer a one-two viewing punch by delivering female viewers attracted to the often salacious drama created between athletes and their significant others, and men who want to see their favorite players in a different light.

“We’ve seen tons of reality shows featuring celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, and their celebrity families, but to actually go behind the scenes of an athlete’s life and see what they go through is different,” said Jeff Jenkins, co-president of entertainment and development for Bunim/Murray Productions, which produces Total Divas. “They are trying to support their family; they’re trying to have romantic relationships; they’re trying to advance their careers — rarely do you see that side of them on the screen.”

Glimpse at an Athlete’s Home Team
Indeed, most sports-themed docuseries follow the lives of athletes as they pertain to the on-field action, whether its preparing for a big fight, competing in the heat of the action or basking in the glow of victory or the anguish of a loss. But for most sports-reality series, the field of play is a backdrop to the interactions athletes have with their spouses, girlfriends and families, far away from the bright lights of the stadium.

“Most people just see the athletes when they perform, but there’s a lot of interest in their personal lives,” said Amber Mazzola, president of Machete Productions, responsible for E!’s reality series franchise WAGS (Wives and Girlfriends of Sports Stars). “You see athletes like Tom Brady and [his wife] Gisele [Bündchen] in newspapers in the gossip section — people just love to hear about them on and off the court.”

Related: Reality Joins TV’s Revival Movement

E!’s WAGS L.A. series, which returns for a third season Nov. 1, has spawned two other series — WAGS Miami and WAGS Atlanta — and all of them follow the personal lives of such players as NFL stars Antonio Gates and Julius Peppers and UFC fighter Tito Ortiz. Mazzola said the show has found its niche with E!’s female-skewing fans, and male viewers enjoying a different glimpse at the players. 

“Our audience is still predominantly female, and I don’t think guys are really tuning into the drama of what these wives are going through, but I do think that the fact that these athletes are actually on the show is a draw,” Mazzola added. “I think that a lot of guys tune in because they want to see Julius Peppers or to see Antonio Gates because for them that’s really cool.”

Related: Women Get in the Game

Ball in the Family executive producer and Bunim/Murray Productions vice president of current programming Farnaz Farjam also said that the series, which launched on Facebook Sept. 1, has generated equal amounts of viewer feedback from men and women, although she would not offer up specific gender breakdown numbers.

She did say the first episode of the series drew 8 million streams, which exemplifies the growing audience interest in and fascination for the Los Angeles-based Ball family, much of which has been driven by the often-outlandish comments of father LaVar Ball regarding the talents of his three basketball-playing kids.

Bringing Fans to the Games
Such sports reality shows can turn more female viewers on to live sports content, Farjam said, adding that women may want to extend their experience with the series by watching the star athletes on the field of play.

“Of course guys will watch the games, but if their girlfriends are watching the series, then they’ll be more inclined to watch the Lakers because they’ve fallen in love with ’Zo,” she said.

Related: Spin It to Win It: Cable Networks Find Ratings Gold in Reality-Series Offshoots

Total Divas also generates strong co-viewing numbers for E!, as the cast of female WWE Superstars attract predominately male pro-wrestling fans as well as the network’s core female audience, according to Bunim/Murray’s Jenkins. Nearly four in 10 viewers (38%) of Total Divas' audience are male, the highest male composition across any of E!’s original franchises. Total Divas spinoff series Total Bellas has the second highest male compositon on the network with 32%, according to network officials.

The network will launch season seven of Total Divas on Nov. 1, with the season finale marking the show’s 100th episode.

E! hopes the upcoming season can match or surpass last year’s average 1 million viewers in Nielsen live-plus-3 ratings.

Other entertainment networks are looking to jump into the sports reality arena. Hallmark Channel will launch its first-ever, personality-focused reality series with the 2018 debut of Meet the Peetes, which focuses on the lives of former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete and his wife, actress Holly Robinson-Peete.

“When we think about programming that makes people feel good, celebrates the human spirit and family by telling a great story, Meet the Peetes fits all of those criteria,” Hallmark Network executive VP of programming Michelle Vicary said. “It is a family story about a father who was an NFL football player and a mom that’s an actor, but its also a family story that focuses on a mom and a dad that have an autistic son and have made it their life’s work to bring awareness around autism.”

Hallmark also hopes the series will add male viewers to its normally female-skewing audience. Along with the series, Rodney Peete will be involved in the network’s annual Super Bowl counterprogramming special, Kitten Bowl, according to Vicary.

“Rodney Peete is much beloved by sports fans, so I hope that men who are fans of his will come with their wives and sit and watch the series,” she said.

Bunim/Murray’s Jenkins believes that more networks are beginning to see the appeal of athlete-based reality series and will look to develop future series in the genre. One issue that could sack the genre’s forward momentum is whether athletes — as well as the organized sports they play for — will be willing to risk tarnishing their respective brands by airing an athlete’s potentially controversial personal life on television.

“I think if the individual athletes and the individual athletic organizations make themselves open to it, absolutely viewers, buyers and production companies want to do more of this type of programming,” Jenkins said, adding that the company is working on a potential reality docuseries with a retired Los Angeles Lakers player, although he would not reveal specifics.

“The fine line for those athletes and for those other organizations, however, is whether they can balance the image and brand and still allow a documentary crew to follow the ups and downs of a particular individual and organization.”

That, of course, would mean athletes and teams experiencing the kind of “winning” or “losing” only reality stars know about.

Hallmark Inc., has proposed buying the nearly 10% of Hallmark Channel parent Crown Media Holdings it doesn’t already own in a deal valued at $175 million. If completed, the deal would effectively take public traded Crown private.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Hallmark said it has decided to purchase the remaining interest in Crown for $5.05 per share, a 2.4% premium to its $4.93 per share price on March 8.

Investors appeared pleased, driving Crown shares above the offering price on Wednesday – the stock was priced at $5.10 each at 11:30 a.m.  

Hallmark has had a rocky relationship with minority shareholders over the years. In 2009, minority shareholder S. Muoio & Associates sued the card company after it proposed a recapitalization plan that gave Hallmark a 90.3% interest in the programmer. That suit was dismissed in 2011.

Hallmark would complete the purchase through a short-form merger process which it says will give minority shareholders better liquidity and allow Hallmark to realize benefits from its ownership of Crown that are unavailable to it while Crown remains a public company with minority stockholders. Following the merger, Hallmark said it intends to operate Crown and use its own Hallmark brand  to strengthen the TV brand across all of the Hallmark businesses.

“Hallmark also intends to strengthen the link between Crown’s channels and Hallmark’s businesses,” the company said in a statement. “With Crown as a wholly-owned subsidiary, Hallmark will be able to control Crown’s content decisions and potential monetization paths, and will have greater flexibility to respond to the many risks and challenges of the rapidly changing cable and entertainment landscape and protect its substantial investment in Crown.”

As the owner of 90.3% of Crown, Hallmark said it does not need the approval or the board or of minority shareholders to complete the deal. The company said it intends to keep Crown Media’s existing management.

CNN was the most watched cable network in primetime last week, bolstered by its Republican Presidential debate coverage.

The cable news network averaged 2.7 million viewers for the week of Dec. 14 to Dec. 20, paced by the 18.1 million viewers who tuned in to see CNN’s coverage of the Dec. 15 Republican Presidential debate, according to Nielsen.

Sports-themed networks held the next two spots, with ESPN finishing second with 2.4 million viewers and NFL Network pulling into third with 1.8 million viewers. Holiday-themed programming helped push Hallmark Channel (2 million viewers) and ABC Family (1.9 million) into fourth and fifth place respectively.

Fox News and USA Network (tied with 1.7 million viewers), TBS (1.5 million), and Discovery Channel and TNT (tied with 1.4 million) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week.

Fox News and Nickelodeon were the co-leaders among cable networks on a 24-hour basis, with Disney Channel a distant third, said Nielsen.

Most Watched Cable TV Shows During The Week Of Dec. 14-Dec. 20

DateShowNetworkTotal Viewers

12/15 Nevada GOP Debate                         CNN                            18.1 million

12/15 Nevada GOP Debate Pre-Show        CNN                            15.3 million

12/14 Monday Night Football NYG-Miami ESPN                           11.5 million

12/15 Anderson Cooper 360                      CNN                              9.1 million

12/19 Thursday Night Football (NYJ-Dal) NFLN                             7.4 million

12/17 Thursday Night Football (TB-STL)  NFLN                             5.9 million

12/15 Preliminary Nevada GOP Debate    CNN                              5.8 million

12/20 Movie: Christmas Land                     Hallmark                      4.2 million

12/14 WWE Monday Night Raw                 USA Network              4.0 million

12/19 Movie: A Christmas Melody             Hallmark                      3.9 million

Source: Nielsen

Hallmark Channel will develop a new original movie based on author Mary Alice Monroe’s novel The Beach House, the network said Monday.

The movie, which will air exclusively on Hallmark in 2016, will star Andie MacDowell (Cedar Cove) who will also serve as executive producer. The story follows a woman struggling through life who returns to her Southern roots and troubled family after an unusual request from her mother.

“The evocative prose of The Beach House is an exploration of strengths and weaknesses so eloquently portrayed in all of Mary Alice Monroe’s writing: agony against past mistakes, present pain and the hope of a brighter future,” said Michelle Vicary, Executive Vice President, Programming, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in a statement.

Hallmark Channel’s 12 New Movies Of Christmas delivered a ratings gift of 3.8 million viewers over its nearly two-month run, the network said Tuesday.

Hallmark’s final two original holiday movies, the Dec. 13 Best Christmas Party Ever (pictured) and the Dec. 14 The Christmas Parade generated 3.4 million and 3.5 million viewers respectively.

Overall, four of Hallmark’s original Christmas films are currently ranked among the top 10 most watched original cable movies of the year, led by the 5.8 million viewers for Christmas Under Wraps, which is also Hallmark’s most watched program ever.

Also, Hallmark’s holiday movies propelled the network to the top spot among women 25-54 for seven straight weekends since launching Nov. 1, said network officials.  

You know Rudolph and Frosty and Elf, and the Grinch and Scrooge and Snoopy, but do you recall … ever seeing so many shows before Christmas? Ever?

With Santa’s arrival nearly a month away, the cable box is stuffed like a stocking with more holiday shows than ever before, and many of them are completely new originals.

Take Hallmark Channel’s Nov. 29 debut of Christmas Under Wraps — one of 12 original holiday films airing on the network in November and December — about a big-city surgeon who falls in love with a handsome small-town local and has to make a life-changing decision that will forever alter her future Christmases.

While some may yawn at the saccharine story line, the show delivered a rare ratings gift for Hallmark: A network-record 5.8 million viewers, besting such highly-touted original cable films as Syfy’s Sharknado 2: The Second One.

IT STARTED ON HALLOWEEN

For Hallmark and several other networks, cable’s holiday-movie season — which began in earnest Halloween night with Hallmark Movies and Mysteries debuting the 2008 original film Our First Christmas, up against slasher movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saw — is already spreading a lot of ratings cheer.

Nearly 30 original holiday films are slated to air from November through Christmas on cable networks ranging from Hallmark Channel to new entrants like BET — as well as hundreds of classic holiday chestnuts such as Miracle on 34th Street and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation airing on dozens of other networks.

Hallmark’s ratings success with Christmas Under Wraps — second only to the 6 million viewers garnered by Lifetime’s Flowers in the Attic for top audience honors among original cable movies this year — is just the tip of the ratings iceberg.

UP’s Nov. 30 The Tree That Saved Christmas — one of six original movies premiering this season — reached more viewers in the network’s adult and female 25-54 target demos than any show in the network’s 10-year history.

Lifetime has already generated more than 1 million viewers for two of its holiday-related movies, with two more films slated to premiere over the next week. Network executives said viewers yearning for family-friendly programming, as well as a growing desire to escape the negative drumbeat of current events this year, have tuned to holiday films in a big way.

“Probably 90% of these Christmas movies are about family and relationships and lack a lot of the cynicism that’s in other entertainment programming,” Tanya Lopez, senior vice president of original movies for Lifetime, said. “With everything negative that’s going on, people want to go to their happy place, where it feels like comfort food.”

Indeed, the protests over police shootings in Ferguson, Mo., and New York, as well as ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, have had a positive ratings effect on heart-warming, and family-friendly Holiday programming.

“Typically, holiday programming is positive, and I think that when people have their gatherings and they’re looking for something to watch, everyone in the family can watch a holiday program,” D’Angela Proctor, senior vice president of programming and production for TV One, said. The network this past Saturday aired Second Chance Christmas, a touching family-themed movie which the network was hoping to pull in viewers beyond its target 25-54 African-American audience.

No brand is more synonymous with holiday fare as Hallmark, and viewers are flocking to the network and its sister service Hallmark Movies and Mysteries in record-breaking fashion. With more than half of its 12 original movies premiering since Nov. 1, Hallmark is on a record breaking ratings pace, according to Crown Media Family Networks president and CEO Bill Abbott.

Riding the sleigh of Christmas-themed content last month, Hallmark averaged 1.8 million primetime viewers in November, fourth best among all cable networks.

Four of its original Christmas films — Northpole (4 million viewers), The Christmas Shepherd (4.1 million viewers), A Royal Christmas (4.4 million) and Christmas Under Wraps (5.8 million) — rank among the top 10 most watched movies on cable in 2014.

Abbott said both networks have stepped up the production quality of its holiday movies as well as the movies’ star power — Rob Morrow, Alan Thicke, Robert Wagner, Jill St. John and Jane Seymour are a few of the notables appearing in this year’s Hallmark holiday films — which has translated into big ratings gains.

SETTING A FESTIVE MOOD

“We are an oasis, especially given the tough images that people have seen over the past couple of weeks,” Abbott said. “But I believe that we’ve upped the ante on our content, and that is fueling the success that we’re experiencing.”

Other networks are hoping to appeal to diverse viewers and millennials with its holiday fare. BET on Tuesday will debut its first original holiday comedy fi lm, A Very Larry Christmas, starring Tatyana Ali, Loretta Devine and Charles S. Dutton.

Lifetime looked to tap young women along with its core 25-54 female audience with its Nov. 22 En Vogue Christmas. The movie, which stars the members of ’90 s R&B group En Vogue as they reunite to raise money for a struggling family nightclub during the holiday season, drew 1 million viewers in its Nov. 22 premiere, according to the network.

A second Lifetime film, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever starring the popular Scrooge-like Internet feline, averaged 1.7 million viewers in its Nov. 29 premiere.

Lifetime’s Lopez said with the glut of holiday programming in the marketplace, it’s important to break through the cookie-cutter, romantic holiday drama model in order to reach younger viewers.

“What we were putting out there is a variety of Christmas-themed movies to see if there was a younger audience available,” Lopez said.

ABC Family decided to forgo orignal Christmas movies altogether and instead will look to reach its target millennial audience through holiday-themed episodes of its most popular scripted series as part of its annual “25 Days of Christmas” programming stunt. The Fosters, Switched at Birth, Pretty Little Liars, Chasing Life, Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy are set to air Christmas episodes this week (Dec. 8-10).

VERY SPECIAL EPISODES

While it’s very common for networks to produce holiday specials for its top shows to generate high ratings, ABC Family executive vice president of strategy and programming Salaam Coleman Smith said the network will also use the specials as a way to promote the upcoming fall season for many of the shows.

“The holiday season is really important to our millennial audience because holidays combine nostalgia with family and festivity,” she said. “We felt there was a real opportunity to create holiday specials for our originals and to create a platform for their January launches.”

With nearly 1,500 hours of holiday fare scheduled this season between the Hallmark Channels, ABC Family, Lifetime and UP alone, Abbott said he does have some concerns about genre overkill.

“There is a limit and I think we’re getting there,” Abbott said. “If you look at the radio model you see not everyone converts to Holiday music 24/7, so certainly there’s a finite amount of programming people want to tune into. But our brand gives us so much of an advantage and allows us to continue to grow.”

It's not exactly on the level of cable's siphoning of big-ticket sports, but premieres of Hallmark Hall of Fame specials are moving from broadcast to cable. The series of family-friendly films will leave ABC and debut on Hallmark Channel in 2014-15.

The series has been a broadcast TV staple for more than 60 years, starting with Amahl and the Night Visitors in 1951, and for kids proved something of a gilt-edged guarantee of being able to stay up late on a schoolnight.

The Hallmark Hall of Fame movies have aired on ABC for the past three years, but will now debut on Hallmark Channel along with multiple encores. The first movie in the new arrangement will be One Christmas Eve, starring Anne Heche. Hallmark Channel will air as many as four original Hallmark Hall Of Fame movies as year, and the network will have access to past movies from the HHOF library, Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming for Hallmark told Multichannel News.

“Over the past three years the Hallmark Hall of Fame has had higher total viewership via ABC and Hallmark Channel than in any three-year period in the past decade,” said Brad Moore, president of Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions in a statement. “We’ve enjoyed the success and our working relationships with both ABC and Hallmark Channel."

Bill Abbott, President and CEO, Crown Media Family Networks, added that, “Hallmark Hall of Fame is the longest running and most beloved drama franchise in television history. Adding these premieres to the network’s lineup brings great value to our viewers and further reinforces Crown Media’s position as the leader in high-quality original family entertainment.”