HALLMARK CHANNEL'S "COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS" KICKS OFF WITH RATINGS BONANZA

Original Movie Premieres "Love's Christmas Journey" Scores 2.0 HH Rating and "Mistletoe over Manhattan" Delivers 2.1 HH Rating

Hallmark Channel's "Countdown to Christmas" sneak preview rolled out this weekend with the world premieres of Hallmark original movies "Love's Christmas Journey" on Saturday, November 5th, and "Mistletoe over Manhattan" on Sunday, November 6th. "Mistletoe over Manhattan" (8-10P) delivered a 2.1 HH rtg, ranking as the #2 movie of the week, while "Love's Christmas Journey" (8P-12M) was the #3 movie of the week with a 2.0 HH rtg. Combined, the premieres of "Love's Christmas Journey" and "Mistletoe over Manhattan" reached more than 6.4 million unduplicated viewers. In prime time for the weekend (Sat-Sun 8-11p), Hallmark Channel ranked in the Top 10 for key demo ratings, including #2 in HH rtg (1.8 rtg). In addition, Hallmark Channel was #3 (1,599,000) for HH delivery in weekend prime time. "Countdown to Christmas", the popular network cornerstone with record-breaking ratings, continues to demonstrate the strength of its holiday programming with the resounding success of first two movies in the line-up.

"Love's Christmas Journey" was the #1 rated ad-supported cable movie on Saturday, while "Mistletoe over Manhattan" scored the #2 rated ad-supported cable movie on Sunday along with #2 movie of the week. "Love's Christmas Journey" also ranked as the 2nd highest prime time program of the day on ad-supported cable. In the Saturday 8p-12m time period, the "Love's Christmas Journey" placed #1 in HH rtg and total viewers (P2+) rtg, as well as #1 in HH Delivery. "Mistletoe over Manhattan" was the 4th highest movie of the day among W25-54 rtg in addition to #3 for HH ratings (2.1 rtg) and HH delivery (1,816,000), respectively.

"Love's Christmas Journey" is the latest installment in the mini-series inspired by Award-winning author Janette Oke's beloved book series "Love Comes Softly". In the movie, recently widowed Ellie King (Hall), while still mourning the loss of her husband and daughter, visits her brother Aaron Davis (Vaughan) and his two children during the Christmas holiday. Ellie does her best to enjoy the holidays, settling in nicely with her brother's family. However, to her dismay, when Aaron travels out of town to purchase adjacent land for farming, he goes missing - threatening the season's festivities. "Love's Christmas Journey" stars Natalie Hall ("All My Children"), Greg Vaughan ("General Hospital") , Academy Award(R) nominee Sean Astin ("Kangaroo Court," "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy), Academy Award(R) and three-time Emmy(R) Award nominee JoBeth Williams ("On Hope," "Frasier"), Emmy(R) Award winner Charles Shaughnessy ("Stanley," "Days of our Lives") and Hollywood legend, Academy Award(R) and Golden Globe winner Ernest Borgnine ("Marty").

The heartwarming holiday tale "Mistletoe over Manhattan" tells the story of Mrs. Claus' mission to find Christmas spirit for her stressed-out husband, who is on the brink of retiring. In her search for holiday joy, Rebecca, Mrs. Claus (Moore) ends up helping a family, torn apart by divorce, to rediscover the power of love just in time for Christmas! The film stars Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Galactica," "Burn Notice"), Greg Bryk ("Happy Town," "History of Violence"), Tedde Moore ("The Kennedys") and Mairtin O'Carrigan ("The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day")

Source: The Nielsen Company, October 31 - November 6, 2011