Peacock will now be a home to Hallmark content going forward after announcing a huge deal with Crown Media to bring a huge library of content to the streamer.
“We’re proud to enter this partnership with Peacock and bring our widely beloved Hallmark content to their subscribers,” added Wonya Lucas, president & CEO of Hallmark Media. “The opportunity to provide our devoted fanbase access to all three of Hallmark’s linear networks will allow our audience to continue to grow and connect in meaningful ways.”
The move is a first-of-its-kind collaboration that sees Peacock become the first service that does not market itself as a full cable replacement with such a deal in place and may be aimed at the market currently occupied by services such as FRNDLY. Many viewers who are invested in Hallmark content gravitate to the Streaming Service FRNDLY as a way to see Hallmark content as well as other similar family-friendly fare.
Just what will really be available via the Hallmark Hub on Peacock will not be obvious until the option is actually on the streamer. The streamer announced that the deal would include library content as well as live Hallmark channels. Does this actually mean that users will be able to stream the same things that they would on a traditional cable channel live on Peacock? Or does it mean that Peacock will have channels akin to what people find on Pluto TV or even the Channels section of Peacock. Often curated streams are marketed as “Live Channels”
The move though is a sign that Peacock plans to keep building content offerings whether they are directly from NBCU products or by forming partnerships with content producers to become exclusive distributors. The Hallmark deal has a lot of the same markings as the WWE deal that brought the WWE Network Library content and access to premium live events Peacock. Both the Hallmark move and the WWE move show a willingness to break with other media companies that have eschewed partnerships between corporate entities in favor of going all in on new original content or depending only on owned library content.
“As we continue to make Peacock a premium streaming destination, Hallmark is exactly the type of brand we want to align with,” said Kelly Campbell, president of Peacock and direct-to-consumer at NBCUniversal, in a statement. “Through this groundbreaking partnership, we’re giving Hallmark viewers a unique viewing experience while continuing to grow our audience, boosting engagement across both brands.”
It might also be an acknowledgment that not everyone can be Disney. Ahead of the launch of Disney+ Disney acquired, all of Fox’s studio library, multiple studios including Marvel, bought Lucas Films and more enabling the company to launch one app with content and popular IP available for years to come. NBCU/Comcast, while a powerful media company in its own rights does not have the same type of assets to work with in the way say Warner Bros Discover does to hit back with its own huge library of popular content or future original series built around recognizable properties, so the the only way it can carve a niche is to offer something from a totally different angle.
Based on its latest move we have reason to believe that Peacock will continue to grab up similar deals going forward as it positions itself as a viable option in the cord-cutting age.
