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Interactive content is definitely in the cards for the folks at Hallmark.
Crown Media Holdings Inc., the parent company for Hallmark Cards, Hallmark Entertainment Networks, Odyssey Network and Crayola crayons, has formed a new division to create interactive TV products and services related to its entertainment properties.
That will include not only a video-on-demand library of Hallmark Entertainment movie titles but also innovated interactive children's programming, interactive greeting cards and other digital programming.
Jeff Henry, the managing director of Hallmark Entertainment Network U.K., will oversee the operation. He says the idea is to use the company's considerable worldwide distribution network and products and create interactive products.
"My job is to turn them into interactive television products if that's possible," he says.
One of the easiest such products is the VOD library, including many of the entertainment division's miniseries and television movies. But another area the company is investigating lies in a digital-age version of the standard greeting card.
"We've developed I think what is an incredibly fun video-- we call them V-grams video messaging, in which you will be able to send people very, very funny clips from movies which are personalized, or clips from films or stuff we've made ourselves from our own video libraries," he says. "It really taps into the whole phenomenon of the kids and text messaging and taking that one step further. We see the next generation being video messaging each other."
 Even the low-tech Crayola crayon has a potential for interactive TV applications. Henry says the company is now working on an interactive art and crafts program for children that takes a standard TV "how to" show and adds interactive links so kids can access more detailed, step-by-step instructions. So far, demos Crown Interactive has played in several markets worldwide have been positive.
"The whole thing comes to life, and we are delighted with it and the reaction we are getting to it already," he says. "Even where the countries don't have Crayola is fantastic. It's great where they have Crayola because immediately they see the brand connection and the power of a trusted brand."
For the next three to six months, Crown Interactive will go through a testing phase and whittle down the list of projects to focus on the ones that will generate demand and revenue potential. Hopefully, that process will help the company avoid the fate of many failed dot-com entertainment ventures.
"We're not completely blue-skying the testing," he says. "There has been an element of culling the ideas. The things we are going to be testing both in a market test and with controlled trials with operators are all things which we believe do not fall into that pit hole."
That being said, there are several elements to be decided - such as how to charge for the products. For example, since you can't ask a child to click and pay for interactive TV programs, the Crayola project might come as a monthly fee service or one operators pay for as a value add for their subscribers.
"What we're finding is, market by market, country by country, the answer to that question is different," Henry says. While this might seem vexing to developers as they look at worldwide distribution, "as long as the product stays the same, the economic model can be varied," he adds.
Much of the service delivery will be handled through the company's worldwide transmission center in Denver. Eventually, each product chosen will have its own business unit to oversee operations and marketing. Operators could choose one, several or all of the products and give it their own brand.
If all goes as planned, the first of these products could hit U.S. markets in six months or so, Henry says.
"If we can make Hallmark Interactive and Crown Interactive as global player within that, we can take such a leap forward in terms of world distribution that we will become something very significant within Crown Media," he says. "It gives global presence to the company in a very substantial way for brands."
Predictably, Henry is also bullish on the overall future of interactive TV.
"I think it will be the most powerful medium within ten to fifteen years," he says. "It will be seen as an everyday object and people will even say 'Well, how did we ever think this wouldn't happen?'"
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