As you’re reading this story, revelers are still savoring the sights, sounds, smells, and songs of the 2024 holiday season. But over at the Hallmark Channel, it’s already December 2025.

That’s the way the gingerbread crumbles when you’re America’s best-known manufacturer of warm and cozy holiday movies that millions of viewers gather ‘round their nearest screens to watch when the weather outside is frightful.

For the record, living in the future is a feature—not a bug—of working at Hallmark. “We start developing our movies a year or two out,” Lisa Hamilton Daly, the cable network’s evp of programming, revealed to ADWEEK, happily comparing her workplace to Santa’s North Pole hub. “There are highly skilled elves in this workshop.”

Hallmark is definitely enjoying a holiday-assisted ratings high. In November, it was the fourth most-watched basic cable network in total viewers—a month otherwise dominated by presidential election news. It also finished in the top 10 networks among the prized adults 25-54 demo, confirming its multi-generational appeal. Meanwhile, a move into live events—including cruise ships and bus tours—has allowed the network’s devoted audience to meet their favorite performers in person.

And Daly recently helped oversee the addition of a new wing to Hallmark’s existing workshop. In September, the network launched the Hallmark+ streaming service, which replaced the on-demand Hallmark Movies Now platform. “That was an idea that was in play when I got here,” said the Netflix veteran, who departed that streaming giant for Hallmark in early 2021.

Not for nothing, but her previous employer is among the many streamers getting more active in the holiday movie genre, and the debut of Hallmark+ is a clear sign that Hallmark intends to keep up with the changing seasons as audiences migrate away from linear to digital platforms. “Part of our mission is to get our brand out there, and we’re trying to find different ways to do it,” Daly acknowledged.

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