Wonya Lucas makes huge modifications at Hallmark Channel

Wonya Lucas landed a task as the CEO of the Hallmark Channel with 2 instructions: Keep its brand name undamaged and interrupt its playbook. At the very same time.

Since mid-2020, Lucas has actually been the CEO of Hallmark Media, the moms and dad of the cable-TV network understood for its romantic stories and feel-good vacation films. In that time, Hallmark has actually diversified its casts and storylines– and altered how the channel itself is dispersed as customers get away for streaming services. And she’s done it all while remaining real to the Hallmark brand name, which Lucas stated is constantly on her mind.

“My first goal was understanding the audience, but then also understanding what I called the opportunity audience,” Lucas stated in an interview with CNBC.

Lucas is a veteran in the media market. She held leading tasks at Turner Broadcasting networks like TNT and TBS and likewise at the Discovery Channel– years prior to they were combined in the WarnerBros Discovery merger– along with The Weather Channel and TELEVISIONOne She likewise invested parts of her profession on the brand name management side of home customer business like Coca-Cola and Clorox

She credits that brand name knowledge for her focus and success atHallmark Her associates likewise indicate that brand name awareness, even as she makes modifications atHallmark

Under Lucas, Hallmark’s “Countdown to Christmas” motion picture slate has actually significantly altered.

This previous season among its most effective films, “Three Wise Men and a Baby,” a play on the 1980 s flick “Three Men and a Baby,” didn’t include a plot that focused on love at all. But the story departure settled: The motion picture about 3 bros looking after a secret child throughout the holiday was the most-watched cable-TV motion picture of the year, balancing 3.6 million audiences, according to Nielsen.

“I think she’s very committed to drawing in a new audience and figuring this out. I came here for Wonya because she shared her vision of things with me, and I said, ‘Yes, I am signing on for that,'” stated Lisa Hamilton Daly, Hallmark’s head of shows.

Other movies consisted of “Christmas at the Golden Dragon,” about the household behind a Midwestern Chinese dining establishment; “Hanukkah on Rye,” a love about 2 completing deli owners; and “All Saints Christmas,” a tale about an R&B vocalist heading house for the vacations.

“At the end of the day,” Lucas stated, “the consumer needs or desires to see themselves in the love story.”

When Lucas ended up being CEO of Hallmark Media, which likewise consists of the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries network, it had actually likewise been coming out from under a firestorm of debate. Earlier in 2020, Bill Abbott, the long time CEO who had actually assisted turn the network into a leviathan, left the business following a debate over commercials including a same-sex wedding. Facing pressure from a conservative group, Hallmark pulled the advertisements. It reversed course quickly after a gay-rights advocacy group attempted to introduce a marketing boycott.

Neither Hallmark nor Abbott have actually discussed why he left, however the debate did stir concerns about the network’s material.

Diversity was of the utmost value when Lucas took control of. Hallmark had actually been slammed for its movies and series typically controlled by stories of heterosexual love including mostly white casts. That suggested that big swaths of the audience trying to find more relatable material may feel locked out.

“Her towering strengths met exactly what we needed to do in the business, at a time when we were trying to broaden the content and storytelling,” stated Mike Perry, the CEO of Hallmark Cards, the moms and dad business of HallmarkMedia

“We needed someone strong strategically and someone who has a keen insight into our viewer. That’s Wonya,” Perry stated.

Tapping into the brand name, Lucas thought of what they might draw from the welcoming card line and its verticals, such as Mahogany, Hallmark’s decades-old line of Black American cards and items.

During Lucas’ brief period, there have actually been more movies fixated self-love, and others with stories such as a plus-size female finding love and a household assisting their autistic kid throughout the vacations. Although stories are changing, and the casts, while still chock filled with fan favorites like “Mean Girls” and “Party of Five” star Lacey Chabert, have actually altered, Lucas and Hamilton Daly continue to work to keep the material real to Hallmark’s love-centric brand name.

Hallmark is likewise leaning more into material throughout the year, such as a summer season motion picture style– in 2015 was travel, this year is wedding events– and on numerous seasons besides the winter season vacations. This month is “Loveuary” on the Hallmark Channel, with films concentrated on love, however each with a twist, such as one about a chocolatier reported to have the dish to discovering real love, and another about 2 complete strangers on a trip recognizing brand-new top priorities.

Hamilton Daly, who pertained to the cable-TV network after working as the director of scripted series at Netflix, worried it was the modification coming under Lucas that was her sole factor for taking the leap.

“That was clear to me. There needed to be more diversity in both casting and storylines,” Hamilton Daly stated. She indicated “Three Wise Men and a Baby” and the brand-new series called “Ride,” a drama about a household in the rodeo that has “Yellowstone” vibes, as examples of that push.

“We took the leash off of some of our creators and told them to stay inside the bumpers of the brand, but have more leeway to think of stories in a different way,” stated HamiltonDaly “We also brought in new producers, from different places that I knew before.”

As the variety of customers leaving the pay-TV universe sped up in the last few years, it was very important to make certain Hallmark’s broadened audience had access to its material.

But even with successes like “Three Wise Men and a Baby,” and Hallmark’s strong holiday rankings, the network still saw a decrease in viewership year over year as cord-cutting increase.

In December, a peak rankings month for Hallmark, the network balanced about 1.3 million audiences, down about 40% from 5 years previously. Overall in 2022, Hallmark Channel balanced 980,000 audiences, down 20% from2018

Still, Hallmark commands a few of the greatest rankings on home entertainment cable television. “Countdown to Christmas” starts as early as October, and the channel is the top-watched home entertainment cable television network amongst homes, overall audiences and numerous age amongst females throughout the 4th quarter of the year.

While Lucas believes there’s life left in direct television, Hallmark streaming is a primary concern.

Hallmark does have a membership streaming service, Hallmark Movies Now, which starts at $4.99 a month. Last month, Lucas employed Emily Powers, who assisted grow specific niche banner BritBox’s North America service, to run Hallmark’s streaming and digital platform department. She’s entrusted with relaunching Hallmark’s streaming service and future ad-supported channels.

Additionally, Hallmark is readily available not just on virtual pay-TV packages like FuboTV, however likewise smaller sized completing services like FrndlyTV and Philo, which have less expensive memberships and target market just trying to find home entertainment channels. News and sports, which snag the greatest rankings, raise the expenses of pay-TV packages.

Lucas likewise has actually been believing beyond package. She stated she isn’t thinking about the normal licensing handle streaming services where they simply offer material that gets lost in the shuffle.

This talks to the offer Hallmark signed with NBCUniversal’s Peacock in 2015.

“To be honest, when Peacock knocked on the door, I thought it was going to be the same conversation and I went into it thinking, ‘OK, this will be over in like 10 minutes,'” statedLucas “But they had me when they described their services as being centered around fandom.”

The offer made Lucas consider when she operated at TNT and the network had rights to WWE battling matches. WWE taught her the value of fandom when providing material.

What made the offer various was that it consisted of live streams of Hallmark networks onPeacock

“It took a great deal of forward believing for Wonya to believe, ‘How do I improve circulation and streaming circulation for my material, and still keep [traditional pay-TV deals], which I believe she browsed effectively,'” stated Mark Lazarus, NBCUniversal’s head of television and streaming, who dealt with Lucas years earlier atTurner

Lucas confessed did take some working out to smooth any ruffled plumes with their standard circulation partners.

“I think Hallmark is a great fit for her because it aligns with her values and positive energy,” stated Lazarus.

Lucas’ concentrate on the stability of brand names tends to guide the majority of her thinking, something that stood out to a number of leaders she’s dealt with in the market.

“She’s an ace at navigating brands, from The Weather Channel to Hallmark. She’s always thinking about how you propel the brand and what partnerships do that,” stated Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC. Jones was an up-and-coming manufacturer at The Weather Channel when Lucas supervised.

The 2 faced each other just recently at the Sundance FilmFestival Jones stated it has actually been most likely 20 years because they ‘d last seen each other. ” I lastly got to inform [Lucas] just how much I admired her at the time I dealt with her,” Jones stated.

“You know the phrase, ‘If you can see it, you can be it?’ I know it’s cliche, but it’s true. She was one of the earliest examples of a woman, and a woman of color at that, at the helm,” Jones included. “I always said if I can do a quarter of what Wonya did in her career, I would consider myself successful.”

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the moms and dad business of CNBC and MSNBC.

Clarification: This story has actually been upgraded to clarify the nature of Hallmark’s live circulation contract with Peacock.