Since Hallmark first announced this year they would air their New Original Drama Series, beginning with "When Calls the Heart", 30 Sunday Nights in a Row at 9pm/8c. on the Hallmark Channel - devoted Hallmark movie and TV series fans collectively took notice, knowing this would directly conflict with the Premiere of Original Movies on their sister station, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, which also premieres on Sunday nights.
The first simultaneous showing was the premiere of Season 3 "When Calls the Heart" up against the premiere of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From the Heart" on February 21, 2016. Those of us, who are loyal watchers of both series, (unless you could record one), had to unfortunately choose between them.
 |
| images via: Hallmark Crown Media |
At the time, I received a lot of viewer feedback from many of you, Hearties and POstables, and the question was often the same... "Why?"
I wish I had an answer, but it doesn't make sense to me, either. Airing competing premieres surely takes away from the ratings to both Hallmark programs.
Subsequently, following this original dilemma, I wanted to be certain you all know - there will be further match-ups like this in the course of this 30 weeks of original series... including the premiere of part two of "Karen Kingsbury's The Bridge" on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, which will coincide with a new episode of "When Calls the Heart" on the Hallmark Channel, Sunday evening, March 20th.
 |
| images via: Hallmark Crown Media |
Also, a new original Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movie "White Hot" will premiere at the same time as the new season of "Good Witch" premieres April 17th on the Hallmark Channel.
Furthermore, if and when there are other new Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movies premiering from now until late Summer - they will also air at the same time as the new drama series on the Hallmark Channel. Several new Mystery Movies are expected to premiere on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries this summer, which may coincide with the new Hallmark Channel summer series "Chesapeake Shores", premiering Sunday, July 17.
 |
| images via: Hallmark Crown Media, courtesy: http://chesapeakeshores.tumblr.com/ |
When viewers voiced that waiting a year to see the continuation of "Karen Kingsbury's The Bridge" was too long, Hallmark listened, and moved the premiere up to March. When viewers said they wanted to see more of "When Calls the Heart", but... only if the characters remained in Hope Valley, again Hallmark listened, and season 3 has that same unique charm, once again, as Season 1.
My Solution: Move the 1 hour dramas up 1 hour on the Hallmark Channel. That way, viewers can turn to the other station afterwards to watch the movie. Also, I have felt that airing a family show, such as "When Calls the Heart" from 9pm-10pm, may be too late for some children, and "When Calls the Heart" is most definitely one of those rare shows you can wholeheartedly trust to watch with your children, of all ages!
Another factor: Social Media! Fans of "When Calls the Heart" - who call themselves #Hearties - will definitely be LIVE tweeting during their show and IF the new movie premieres on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries AFTER "When Calls the Heart's" time slot, then I'm sure many would turn there - and continue to watch and tweet during the movie, as well!
Promo Idea: Hallmark could even have a countdown commercial to the premiere of the new movie on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries after the credits roll on the Hallmark Channel series. I know they are always looking for ways to promote the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel, and that would definitely generate interest!
How You can Help: If you would like to see the premiere times for these programs change - please contact Hallmark via Facebook and Twitter, and kindly ask them to consider changing their Sunday Night Schedule - so viewers can watch both!
When contacting Hallmark, please feel free to share a link to this post:
http://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2016/03/hallmarks-sunday-schedule-creates.html
Since I know how many of us enjoy and appreciate both networks - I created this post to be helpful to all Hallmark fans and hopefully, Hallmark, too.
Please share your thoughts on this - in the comment area below!
