Holiday Season Helps Improve Crown Earnings

A strong holiday season contributed to Crown Media Holdings increasing its net income in the fourth quarter when compared to a year ago. Crown, owner and operator of cable stations the Hallmark Channel and the Hallmark Movie Channel, reached more than 75 million viewers between mid-November and the end of 2010 with its holiday themed programming. Hallmark Channel’s programming block anchored by “The Martha Steward Show” also showed improved rating in the fourth quarter. Crown reported net income of $29.5 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, on revenues of $90.7 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31. For the same period in 2009, the company reported net income of 373,000 on revenues of $77.6 million. For the full fiscal year, Crown reported net income of $24 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, on revenues of $287.3 million. For the previous fiscal year the company had a net loss of $22.6 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, on revenues of $279.6 million. “The strategic initiatives that we put into place this year, including differentiation of our channels, strong relationships with our distribution partners, and our recapitalization – have paved the way for these operating results,” said Crown Media President and CEO Bill Abbott. “As we build on these initiatives, we believe that our efforts will continue to yield positive returns and position us for continued success in the future.” Mark R. Madler