Hallmark Movie Channel The Hallmark Movie Channel was launched in January 2004 as an outlet for additional movies and series available to the Hallmark Channel (HC) that the station did not have the airtime to run. Two series were initially picked up, with
Magnum, P.I. available at launch and
Diagnosis: Murder available in January 2005. Crown Media shifted showing their Mystery Movie film series in 2008 from Hallmark Channel to this channel as they were having more success with lighter romances. On April 2, 2008, the channel was switched over to
HD format.
AT&T U-verse dropped Hallmark Channel and sister channel Hallmark Movie Channel on September 1, 2010, due to a carriage dispute. As of July 23, 2015, both channels have returned to U-verse. In July 2012 during a
retransmission consent dispute with
Hearst Television, the network was slotted by
Time Warner Cable in place of Hearst's broadcast television stations as a 'free preview' and make-good for viewers until the dispute was settled.
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries On March 14, 2014, Crown Media Holdings announced that Hallmark Movie Channel would be rebranded as Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in October 2014. In rebranding, the company was trying to differentiate between the two channels, which feature different programming. With the new name, Hallmark reestablished a mystery wheel series under the name "Original Mystery Wheel" in 2015, After running several repeats of the
Jesse Stone films in 2015, the channel agreed to pick up the next two films in the series from
Sony Pictures Television. On Monday, November 11, 2015, Hallmark Movie Channel started its first "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas" seasonal programming. On July 28, 2017, it was reported that Crown Media would add a brand new cable network titled Hallmark Drama (now
Hallmark Family), which launched on October 1, 2017, and a subscription video on demand streaming service titled
Hallmark Movies Now on October 3 of the same year. Two new development deals along with new installments of existing movie series were announced by the channel.
Al Roker signed a deal for his
The Midnight Show Murders: A Billy Blessing Novel and
Scandal inspiration
Judy Smith, a crisis communications specialist, made a deal for the movie
The Adjuster. Although
The Adjuster never made it into production, in 2021, Smith was developing a new film titled
Redemption in Cherry Springs.
Hallmark Mystery On February 6, 2024, Hallmark Media announced Hallmark Movies & Mysteries would be renamed Hallmark Mystery on March 6, 2024. ==Programming==