Hallmark Media Makes Dramatic Programming Change Eliminating Lisa Hamilton Daly’s Position
On Monday, Hallmark Media made a dramatic change by eliminating Lisa Hamilton Daly’s position at the network. The Executive Vice President of Programming position was eliminated, and the powerful executive is no longer at the network after making strides with the network.
Here are the latest details.
Lisa Hamilton Daly Out As EVP Of Programming At Hallmark Media
On Monday, there were some uncharacteristic bad feelings at Hallmark HQ. According to Deadline, the usually feel-good network has eliminated the EVP of Programming position, meaning Lisa Hamilton Daly is no longer with Hallmark Media.
The highly experienced Daly joined the network late in 2021, having worked for Netflix and Lifetime. She was behind the mega-successful Virgin River, and Sweet Magnolias on the streaming channel, as well as the Emmy-nominated Flowers In The Attic for Lifetime.
However, for Hallmark fans, she brought in The Way Home, which just premiered Season 3 on Friday. Moreover, she singlehandedly revived mysteries by realizing that the “Movies” part of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries was not that unique. Therefore, the network rebranded that channel to Hallmark Mystery.
Despite having spent a third of her time at Hallmark Media during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, she continued to focus on telling stories. Many of the network’s stars have dropped her name because she was open to telling stories about brothers, best guy pals, and best gal pals. The network was not just telling the same story about 30 year olds finding their first love.
Lisa Hamilton Daly Named In Age Discrimination Lawsuit
In October, former Hallmark Media casting agent, Penny Perry, filmed an age discrimination lawsuit against the network. This lawsuit states that Perry was told by Lisa Hamilton Daly not to cast “old talent.” The lawsuit also stated that Daly called Perry “long in the tooth.” The suit also alleges that Daly called Lacey Chabert and Holly Robinson Peete as too old for the network. They were allegedly grooming Hunter King, star of Holiday Touchdown, to replace Lacey as the Queen of Christmas.
This lawsuit rocked the Hallmark world. Worse yet, it happened just as Countdown To Christmas was just starting. While there is no mention of the lawsuit and the elimination of the EVP of Programming position, many fans are debating whether this is the real reason Daly is no longer with the network.
Hallmark Media’s Statement Features Chief Brand Officer Darren Abbott
Since Lisa Hamilton Daly’s position has been eliminated, no one is replacing her. However, it appears that Hallmark Media is changing its focus. According to a statment, “Hallmark is aligning its consumer-facing touch points, including content, under a single leader, Chief Brand Office Darren Abbott, with a focus and expertise in the expression of the Hallmark brand to consumers–from product to experiences and now content, accorss multiple platforms.”
Darren has an innate understanding of the Hallmark brand and paired with his leadership and vision, will ensure our content aligns to the promise of our legacy brand.
It appears the network will chose to focus
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