Latest in Crown Media

Jonathan Bennett, who is the star of Hallmark’s The Holiday Sitter, is celebrating the channel’s “inclusive programming” by producing movies featuring an LGBTQ+ couple as the leads. “I’m just proud to be part of Hallmark channel that is doing so much inclusive programming like The Holiday Sitter…

EXCLUSIVE: Crown Media Family Networks has signed Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls, The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls) to an exclusive, multi-picture overall deal. "Jonathan is a fantastic partner and ambassador for our brand and what we represent. We look forward to working with him on more exciting projects."…

EXCLUSIVE: Crown Media Family Networks has restructured its marketing department, which has been renamed Crown Global Brand Group, under Lara Richardson who joined the company as CMO in December. The operation has been split into four newly created divisions, Brand Marketing & Ad Sales Marketing; Brand Production and…

UPDATED with GLAAD statement, 6:01 PM: Hallmark Channel is facing criticism on multiple fronts over an advertisement featuring a lesbian couple on their wedding day. The ad is for Zola.com, a wedding planning and registry company, and shows two women exchanging vows and later kissing to celebrate their nuptials. It…

EXCLUSIVE: Slammed with a new money laundering charge today, Lori Loughlin hasn't entered a plea yet in the college bribery scheme. However, fans of her former series When Calls the Heart will know very soon exactly when the Hallmark Channel is coming back from its self-imposed hiatus. At around 11 AM PST tomorrow, WCT…

Two days after Lori Loughlin flew into town from a Vancouver set to face charges and arrest over the elite college entrance fraud scheme, Hallmark Channel has cut all of its various ties with the actor. “We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations,” a Crown Media spokesperson told…

After failing to get Mark Steines' retaliation and wrongful-termination lawsuit tossed, Hallmark Channel's owner is now aiming to have the former Home & Family co-host's high-profile attorney Lisa Bloom pushed out of the case. “This motion arises because Defendants retained The Bloom Firm, and that representation…

Crown Media got their family values handed to them today by a federal judge who unequivocally rejected the Hallmark Channel owner's desire to toss ex-Home & Family co-host Mark Steines' retaliation and wrongful termination lawsuit. “Defendants' motion to dismiss is denied, and Defendants' motion to strike is denied,&#8221…

The blast radius from allegations of sexual harassment by Home and Family creator Woody Fraser just legally expanded for Hallmark Channel owner Crown Media Family Networks in a wrongful-termination and harassment suit from a former chef on the homespun show. Longtime food stylist and chef Shanti Hinojos asserts in an…

UPDATED with Crown Media Family Networks statement: Mark Steines has filed a lawsuit against Hallmark Channel owner Crown Media, four months after he was abruptly removed as co-host of the network’s flagship series Home and Family. His four-claim suit filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that his exit…

Joining the growing list of traditional TV programmers with stand-alone streaming video on demand offerings, Crown Media says it is set to launch Hallmark Movies Now. The $5.99 monthly (or $59.99 annually) streaming service will debut Oct. 3 on iOS, Android, Roku and Amazon Fire. The platform, described as wholly…

The disclosure in an unusually dense SEC filing led to a 19.2% pop today in the share price for the parent of the Hallmark Channel, taking it to a two-year high. The greeting card company already controls 90.3% of Crown Media. It says in the filing that a standstill agreement will expire at the end of 2013. As a…