Hallmark carves a niche among red-state viewers
LOS ANGELES_At the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Hollywood glitterati probably will bestow TV's highest honors on dark, edgy programming such as the dystopian dramas "Westworld" on HBO and Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale."
Conspicuously absent from the show will be the kind of light, family-friendly series and romantic comedies - the TV equivalent of a warm bubble bath - that populate the Hallmark Channel. The cable network, owned by the Kansas City, Mo., greeting card giant, is routinely ignored by TV industry members who vote on the Emmys.
But Bill Abbott, the chief executive of Studio City-based Crown Media Family Networks, which operates Hallmark, does not take the Emmy snubs personally, especially since his channels have been growing in popularity while rivals have seen ratings declines. Hallmark - which will launch a third cable channel next month - has capitalized on the widening cultural divide in television as viewers have more choices to select what fits their worldview.
"A vast majority of
