The Hallmark channel may be struggling to find an audience in India but in America the story is different. Hallmark Channel has once again outranked all ad-supported cable and broadcast networks in time spent viewing growth in prime time, an official release states.

The channel has positioned itself as the network consumers are turning to for high-quality programming that is engaging, compelling and relevant. The release states that during the fourth quarter of last year (October, November, December 2002) Hallmark Channel US increased its "time spent viewing" (94 minutes vs. 74 minutes) representing a 27 per cent increase over its fourth quarter 2000 results. The network was followed by the Lifetime and TVLand networks.

Earlier, Hallmark claimed to have ranked number one with a 35 per cent increase in "time spent viewing" growth in third quarter 2001 (third quarter 2001 vs. third quarter 2000).

The figures were calculated by Nielsen Total Activity Report (fourth quarter 2001 vs. fourth quarter 2000, 10/1-12/30/01 vs. 10/2-12/31/00).

Hallmark Channel is a 24-hour television network that provides entertainment programming to a national audience of nearly 44 million subscribers, the release states. The programme service is distributed through 1,700 cable systems, DirecTV (Channel 312) and EchoStar (DISH Channel 185) direct-to-home satellite services and C-Band dish owners across America. Hallmark claims that its combined channels reach 83 million subscribers globally.

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