Hallmark made a lot of big changes last year, becoming more LGBTQ+ inclusive, tying into more cultures with its romances and even experimenting with genre. Amidst this, a sort of culture war was spawned between the longtime cabler and its brand-spanking new rival network GAF (formerly GAC Family), which touted itself as leaning toward more conservative viewpoints. (Including, as Candace Cameron Bure famously said, keeping “traditional marriage at the core.”) Recently, Hallmark’s head honcho Lisa Hamilton Daly talked about the perceived rivalry and what’s really going on between the two networks.
Upcoming Hallmark movies have made a conscious effort to pivot and expand the breadth and diversity of the programming at the network. At the same time, GAF has poached a lot of its stars, with Danica McKeller, Jen Lilly and more all hopping to the new network. The new conservative cabler even signed on Candace Cameron Bure to lead the network's holiday programming block – much like she used to on Hallmark in years past.
How Does Hallmark Actually Feel About Alleged 'Culture Wars' With GAF?
Yet, if you ask Lisa Hamilton Daly, the pivot for her network was not in response to what the rival network was doing. A reporter from Decider asked her about the perceived “culture wars” and she flat out said it was all one-sided from Great American Family, which she claims made it seem her brand was creating unsavory content.
You would have thought we were making I-don’t-know-what over here. It’s still a lovely chaste kiss at the end of these things. What do you think we’re doing? I also have to say that I think that their ratings speak for themselves. Do people really want everything to be so negative and exclusionary? It appears not.
I would expect there to be some underlying tension between the networks, as this "culture war" has dominated headlines in recent months. It probably doesn't help that GAF is run by former Hallmark executive Bill Abbott, either, connecting the two networks even more.
As far as Lisa Hamilton Daly's dig about ratings, her network has been superior in the numbers, both during the holiday season and outside of it, with recent outings like The Wedding Veil Expectations and its sequel as well as newcomer series The Way Home doing solid views and gaining traction among different demos. (The Way Home is already renewed for Season 2.) While GAF struggled out of the gate, it did see gains this year, but hasn't been able to catch Hallmark.
Interestingly, Candace Cameron Bure actually reshared a post about GAF ratings successes this week and noted her new network is showing great strides in growth. A release from the network calls it "the fastest growing network on TV."
Daly also mentioned she and the network have tried to stay out of the conversation for the most part, though with these comments, it does seem there's a bit of this narrative still playing out in the press. Meanwhile, the head honcho credits the network's PR and more for helping her to handle the situation, and she credits the stars for how they handled what she refers to as "not our story."
I will call out the PR team as really expertly guiding us through that, because I think another channel was seeking to define themselves as against us. That’s what they needed to get press. And we just decided, this is not our story. This is their story, and whatever they’re doing — they’re shadowboxing at this point, I don’t know. Our stars tried to not speak out too much. We really tried to stay out of that and do our thing because I don’t think we want to be defined against anybody else. We wanted to define ourselves on our own terms, and we wanted to let our our programming speak for itself about where we sat in that debate. And I think we did.
To note, Hallmark stars did speak about this topic periodically, albeit not always super directly. Jonathan Bennet talked about Hallmark's shift to inclusivity without calling out GAF. Fellow network star Holly Robinson Peete shared a love is love-type message without calling out the "traditional marriage" comments that sparked it. And Nikki DeLoach called out her more recent experience with the network and how it's changed since she tried to pitch a divorce storyline under Bill Abbott's regime.
Lacey Chabert has been another person speaking out about Hallmark’s programming in recent years. Arguably the new “face” of the network after Bure left, the actress and mom of 1 recently spoke out about the criticism that Hallmark movies are too formulaic. This is something that has also changed with this new era of programming. Fans can watch comedies like Haul Out The Holly or time travel dramas like The Way Home. Ride just premiered this past month and is bringing the Western genre to the network. There's seemingly more on the way, so stay tuned and keep an eye on the TV schedule.
