'Mariah Carey's Christmas Project' Among Hallmark Channel's 2015 Programming Slate

Crown Media Family Networks' President & CEO Bill Abbott and Michelle Vicary, Executive Vice President, Programming and Network Program Publicity, CELEBRATED the exceptional ratings growth and success of Hallmark CHANNEL and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries with announcements of distribution and programming expansions at the 2015 Summer Press Tour for TV writers and critics.

Crown Media and AT&T U-verse launched Hallmark CHANNEL and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in High Definition last week, reaching millions of additional viewers.

"Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries has experienced exponential growth and success this past year," said Bill Abbott, President and CEO, Crown Media Family Networks. "We're thrilled to have both networks expand their reach to millions more dedicated viewers with our distribution partner, AT&T U-verse."

"With our tremendous growth we are proud to partner with exceptional talent in the industry for our upcoming original series and movies," said Michelle Vicary, EVP, Programming and Publicity, Crown Media Family Networks. "We have an incredibly diverse slate with new original series starring award-winning talent to more holiday programming than ever before throughout the year in the television landscape."

Hallmark Channel and Brad Krevoy Television are joining forces with musical superstar Mariah Carey on "Mariah Carey's Christmas Project," which will commence principal photography in October and air on Hallmark CHANNEL December 2015.

Both networks are rapidly expanding their lineups of original shows. Hallmark CHANNEL will feature a diverse and extensive slate of original programs into 2016. Starting Saturday, October 31, Hallmark CHANNEL kicks off its signature holiday event, Countdown to Christmas. This highly anticipated annual tradition features an unprecedented lineup of 16 original movies, including five back-to-back nights of world movie premieres over THANKSGIVING weekend for viewers to feast on.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, which has experienced exponential growth since rebranding to the mystery genre, announced development of two brand-new mystery movie series franchises from Golden Globe® nominee Brooke Shields based on the bestselling novels "Flower Shop Mysteries" and from top-rated talk show host Nancy Grace, based on her popular Hailey Dean books. The channel also announced four new movies over the next year for its popular "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" franchise. Of course, viewers can expect fresh installments of its popular Mystery Series franchises - "Murder She Baked," "Gourmet Detective," "Aurora Teagarden" and "Garage Sale Mystery." Like its sister network, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will also boost its lineup to ring in the holiday season during the programming event The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas, featuring five new original movies including the much anticipated movie based on Debbie Macomber's "Dashing Through The Snow" Christmas novel.

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