Hallmark Movies Are Raising Spirits During the Pandemic

[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome, everyone. I'm Dr. John Whyte, the Chief Medical Officer at WebMD. And you're watching Coronavirus in Context.

We're all tired of the pandemic. And we need to find ways to help have resilience. How are we going to feel good and get through this and return to kind of that pre-pandemic normal? Well, one strategy might be watching some great television. And there's no better channel than Hallmark to help raise our spirits, is there?

So to help provide some insights, I've gone straight to the source. I've asked Lisa Hamilton Daly. She is the Executive Vice President of Programming at Crown Media. And my good friend Annie Howell. She's the Chief Communications Officer at Crown Media.

Ladies, thanks for joining me. Happy Valentine's Day.

Thanks for having us. Excited to be here.

Thank you.

I want to start off with, well, we all kind of knew the ending of shows on Hallmark Channel. But why do they make us feel so good?

I think it's because people feel like they're in control of their life when they're watching it. I think that they know what the ending is going to be and they know it's going to be a happy ending. There's no uncertainty about the outcome. There is no worrying that someone will die or something bad will happen to them.

Instead, they know that girl will end up with that guy, or that family will be reunited, or those friends will end up having a cocktail and everything will be OK. And I think that people are able to a little bit role play in their head, like this is me. This is how that situation could work out. And I think having that positive emotional experience just lets them relax and really think, OK, things will be OK in my life, because they're OK there.

I think it's a very powerful, cathartic experience for people.

And Annie, how has the COVID pandemic changed viewership? We've talked previously about there are more men watching the Hallmark Channel. Has that surprised you?

You know, I've always known that men have a soft side and they need love and warmth and connection just as much as it was, we, women. What I'm surprised is how much more I'm hearing about it. I think some of the men are now coming out unabashedly talking about how much they, too, love Hallmark movies. And we're hearing about it more and more from some of the most unlikely sources.

In fact, recently the Baltimore Ravens football coach just claimed his love for Hallmark Channel. And we're hearing many, many more examples of that.

I'm a Hallmark movie guy. You guys watch it? No? I just like the stories. It makes me feel good about the world. You know what I mean? It's either that or the news. It's an easy choice.

What role does Hallmark play in the pandemic? We've been spending a lot of time at WebMD talking about, as I mentioned, the need for resilience, addressing mental health issues. Does watching Hallmark Channel help with that? Does it play a role here as we start to emerge and re-emerge from year three of this pandemic?

Well, we like to think so. Early on in the pandemic, we heard people ask for more movies. They needed Christmas. They needed something that gave them a sense of warmth and home and positivity, which is our entire brand, is positivity, love, connection, warmth, family. And we were separated from our families. Still are in many ways.

And this was something that was consistent, consistently positive, and a respite from news and the negativity that was going on out there, and a little bit of control. I mean, the thing about Hallmark Channel is our consistent content. And people want that.

They know that they're going to come, what they're going to get. And that is what they're seeking. And we deliver on that every time.

I want to show this clip of a promo for the Hallmark Channel just to give a feel for folks in terms of what they're experiencing in watching it.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- I love you.

[BABY COOS]

We are made to love.

[CRYING]

- Mommy loves you.

- Sweet dreams, mommy.

And to be loved.

[LAUGHING]

It's as essential to us as breathing.

- Do you like it?

We can spend our whole lives in pursuit of it.

- I love you.

I want to ask you about this concept of "Loveuary". To say I love this concept that you're going with. What do you mean by "Loveuary," and why do we need it right now?

Well, I mean, look, our new tagline is where love happens. And I think that we are-- I mean, we said Christmas is kind of our Super Bowl. And I think "Loveuary" is like, what's the next biggest one? Like, the Cotton Bowl? I don't know, if that's college ball.

But you know what I mean. It's a really big month for us, because, look, we are the undisputed leaders in rom-coms on cable. And I think that it makes a lot of sense for us to organize ourselves around a month that is very much about love. And we're trying to make sure that as we continue to evolve our programming, that we're including all kinds of love, not just romantic love, and that we're really trying to expand to different types of relationships-- parent, child, friends-- expanding the diversity of our cast and the stories we tell. But they all come back to the fact that one of the core needs of everybody is love.

And so "Loveuary" really celebrates that fact, that we really specialize in love.

And Annie, how does that work in terms of people that are feeling lonely, that don't feel they have a circle of friends or circle of loved ones? What's the role of Hallmark Channel there in terms of their programming, especially in the context of "Loveuary"?

Well, I think Lisa just said it. We're widening the circle so that we're telling stories of love in all its shapes and forms, right? So girlfriends, parents-- there's all forms of love. And that includes we're going to do some Valentine things maybe down the road. That's up to Lisa. We've got to talk to her about doing that.

But I know that's something that's really become a thing and important. And I think in some ways, we like to think of ourselves as the girlfriend to the person sitting on the couch and a friend, and giving them something warm and wonderful to wrap themselves up in and to dream about. We do like to say that part of our appeal is that we're a little bit of fantasy. And who doesn't need that?

It doesn't matter what your situation is, you all need a little bit of that in our lives. And we provide that.

We have a big trilogy in "Loveuary" called the Wedding Veil Trilogy. And it stars three of our most beloved actors-- Lacey Chabert, Alison Sweeney, and Autumn Reeser. And it is about romantic love. But at the core, the thread that takes you through all three, are the friendships between those three women. And I think it's going to be incredibly appealing.

We've just aired one so far. But to our audience, to see our three ladies, they have developed a real friendship on the set between each other. And I think also it is really showing that friendship is very compelling and almost as strong as romantic love in getting women through their lives, if not sometimes more. But don't tell men that.

Yeah.

Is that a wedding veil?

- Whoever's in possession of the veil will find true love.

We should buy it together. And we should pass it to one another in keeping with the legend.

Does this thing come with a guarantee?

What has caused this evolution in terms of recognizing these other types of love, recognizing the diversity, literally and figuratively in terms of different types of love. How did we get to this point?

Well, I mean, I think it feels like an obvious evolution when romantic love only occupies a certain part of your life. I mean, so much of your life is spent with other people other than just your romantic partners. And for some people who aren't partnered, I think you want to be sure that you're being inclusive with stories that are about the types of love that everyone has in their life, not just, oh, this idealized romantic love.

Everybody likes to think of that as sort of the goal and the aspiration. But I think in your everyday life so much of it takes place in small acts of kindness and love between just the everybody in your life. And I think celebrating that is very important.

So what's on the horizon. What do you have in store for viewers?

I think that we're already thinking, we're already programming for 2023. We're programming for Christmas 2022. And I think we are continuing to expand the diversity of the stories we tell. That is my biggest goal, is to make sure that we really are looking around and telling everyone's stories. Because we think everybody deserves a happy ending.

And I think that, for me, is what's so exciting about where the channel is going.

Lisa, when you think about the year ahead of us, there's still going to be ups and downs in terms of the pandemic. What's the role of Hallmark?

Well, I think that one of the things that has been most frustrating about the pandemic has been the uncertainty of not knowing from day-to-day what's going to happen tomorrow. And I think people are really starting to get worn down even more in the last six months when I think we thought we were going to come out of it and things were going to go back to normal.

I do think that having a place where the programming feels consistent, where the endings are happy, where we're not filming any COVID story lines, where you can have a little bit of escape, you can feel like you're in control, all of those things, I think that really is helpful in a very profound way for people to have a little slice of normal for themselves for two hours or a week while you're watching a series or something like it really can be very beneficial.

Valentine's Day. Annie, what's your message to viewers?

Just give love and be loved.

Ladies, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to talking about what are these different strategies that we can utilize to help address issues of mental health, to start to re-emerge from the pandemic. And watching great television, such as hallmark, is one of those strategies. Really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you, John. It's good to see you.

And if you have questions for us, you can drop me a line at Dr. John at webmd.net. Thanks for watching.