Hallmark Channel cancelled its Wednesday upfront event in New York City due to the nor’easter snowstorm, but that didn’t stop the network from making several programming announcements, including the renewals of its scripted series When Calls the Heart and reality series Meet The Peetes.

Instead of a formal upfront event, the network made the announcements during a Facebook live event from New York's wintery Central Park featuring Hallmark Channel president and CEO Bill Abbott and Hallmark Channel executive vice president of ad sales Ed Georger, as well as actresses Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar.

Hallmark ordered a sixth season of its scripted drama series When Calls the Heart, based on the book of the same name by Janette Oke and starring Erin Krakow, Lori Loughlin and Daniel Lissing.

“Most series experience a ratings decline with age, but When Calls the Heart is bucking that trend thanks to our devoted fans who elevate the show to new levels each year,” said Michelle Vicary, Executive Vice President, Programming and Network Publicity, Crown Media Family Networks in a statement. “The compelling storytelling combined with our captivating cast keeps our viewers engaged and enthusiastic about the saga of Hope Valley, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to continue the journey in season six.”

The network’s freshman reality series Meet The Peetes – which follows the family of former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete and actress Holly Robinson Peete – will return for a second season in 2019, said network officials.

RELATED: 'Meet The Peetes' Bringing Reality, Diversity to Hallmark Channel 

“We look forward to continue sharing the Peetes’ journey as they navigate through life united as a family,” Vicary said.

Hallmark also announced that next February it will add a new Super Bowl Sunday special, Cat Bowl, to complement its annual Kitten Bowl telecast. Cat Bowl, which will feature adult cats plating a feline Hall of Fame game, will debut Feb. 2, prior to the 6th annual Kitten Bowl telecast.

The network said it will also bring back it American Rescue Dog Show event with a second installment airing in February 2019.

On the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries front, the network will premiere three new original movies in 2018, including Crossword Mysteries, Picture Perfect and The Chronicle Mysteries.

This past Sunday (Feb. 21), Hallmark Channel debut its first unscripted reality series, Meet The Peetes, which follows the lives of ex-NFL star Rodney Peete, actress Holly Robinson Peete and their family. The series drew a respectable 705,000 viewers in its premiere as the network looks to attract a younger, diverse audience. 

I recently spoke to Rodney Peete about Meet The Peetes, its place on the Hallmark Channel, and the importance of portraying positive, African-American marriages and families within the reality TV genre.

Why did you decide to take Meet The Peetes to Hallmark Channel?

We started the series two years ago on OWN, but after the network started [hesitating] about picking us up, Hallmark stepped in and said we want to do it. They were looking for diversity and wanted to do a reality series, which they hadn’t done before, so we said yes. They are a great network and a wonderful family to work with. They are really making a push toward diversity, which is really cool. It doesn’t feel like its forced – it feels like they’re trying to do it organically. The first time they take a dive into reality they chose a black family, so it says a lot about them. I’m pretty excited about that.

What will we viewers see in the new season?

The show continues to document our family. We’ve been married for 22 years with four kids, and have a son with autism. For me I’m usually a private guy, but when we go out and get the feedback from families that said you helped us so much –they say we were going through the same thing, or they like the way you talk to your daughter about the safety an dangers of being in college and away from home -- I know it resonated with people. That lets us know that we are doing the right thing. We wanted to have a positive show where people can see some of the realness of our lives – sometimes people see your name and think that you're so out of touch and this and that -- but when they see us on the show, they see that we’re just a regular black family and have regular issues like everybody else.

Following up on that, reality tv doesn’t portray a lot of African-American marriages in a positive light. How important is it for you to showcase your successful marriage in a series?

It’s super important. First, I had that growing up with my parents -- they’re still married today. I wanted to be a good role model for my kids, and as you said you don’t see that dynamic that often on TV and especially in reality TV. You often see Black folks flipping tables and somebody yelling at someone else – its a lot of negative stuff going on. So even though we have our issues we’ve stayed together and kept the family together and tackled real problems. There’s a way to do that all without going crazy and nuts. 

Are you working on any other projects?

My wife has a couple of movies with Hallmark (Holly Robinson Peete stars in the March 17 Hallmark Movies & Mysteries original movie Morning Show Mysteries: Mortal Mishaps), and I do a local radio show with Fred Roggin on AM Radio LA Sports, so that keeps me in the middle of [sports].

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.