Wonya Lucas, who joined Hallmark Media as president and CEO in 2020 at a time when the programmer needed an uplift, is leaving at the end of the year but will remain on the board of directors, the company said today. Hallmark Companies CEO Mike Perry, to whom she reported, will assume her responsibilities.
A savvy marketing and operations executive who rose through roles at CNN, Discovery, The Weather Channel and TV One, Lucas joined privately owned Hallmark about six months after the departure of longtime CEO Bill Abbott. Abbott left after backlash over the channel declining to broadcast a commercial that included two women kissing at their wedding. Perry apologized on Hallmark’s behalf (and later ran the commercial) but set out to find a leader at the channel who could repair any damage that might have been done to the Hallmark brand.
Perry said in an interview Monday that when he and Lucas set priorities, “first on the list was really about broadening the content and the stories that we tell here, and making sure that we did that in a more diverse and inclusive way.” He said, “I think both of us feel very good about that.”
Other goals were to build a strong management team at the channel and develop “new commercial pathways’ beyond linear TV, and inroads have been there made via deals with Peacock, Hulu and YouTube TV, with the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service and with ad-supported video-on-demand and FAST channel launches, he said.
"To her credit, it's like check, check, check and check on all the things that we wanted to do," Perry said.
Lucas said she knew from the outset there was content potential in various Hallmark brands, including Mahogany, the African-American-targeted card line, and the faith-based DaySpring brand.
But on the storytelling side, she wanted to expand the definition of love stories to include familial love, love of community and celebrating different religions. She also wanted to “open up the aperture” in terms of diverse characters. “Diversity beyond ethnicity and race” was important, she said, and credited programming chief Lisa Hamilton Daly for progress there. Notable there were Holly Robinson Peete’s 2021 holiday movie, Our Christmas Journey, inspired by her real-life experiences as a mother to an autistic son; the 2022 film Color My World with Love, centered on a love story between two individuals with Down syndrome; and The Christmas House and The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls, which earned GLAAD Media Award nominations. Hallmark also began dubbing content into Spanish last year and secured carriage for it on Canela TV and Peacock, with more distribution coming this year, channel officials said.
Lucas said she was proud of new series launches, the inter-generational The Way Home ("one of my favorite series of all time") and Western-themed Ride, and respectful wind-downs of older series Chesapeake Shores and Good Witch. Unfinished business includes finding the best approach to a subscription streaming service, but she has confidence in Emily Powers, hired this year as executive VP of streaming and digital platforms.
She cited efforts to put women behind the camera at the female-focused network, especially the Make Her Mark initiative, partnering with Ashley Williams to recruit, coach and guide female directors. “I know what it's like to have doors shut in my face, and to be able to help women who have a vision and who have the passion, and have the skillset, you know, what greater joy is that?” she said.
Lucas, who had the unique honor last year of going into both the Cable Hall of Fame and the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, also credited members of the Hallmark Media senior team, including content distribution chief Judi Lopez, who negotiated a branded hub for Hallmark fare on NBCUniversal-owned Peacock, and executive VP of content strategy and research Robin Thomas, along with ad sales EVP Ed Georger. who preceded her at the channel.
Lucas, whose father, Bill, was the first African-American general manager of a Major League Baseball team and whose mother, Rubye, was on the Turner Broadcasting board, lives in Atlanta and wants to spend more time on the East Coast (Hallmark Media is based in California). She also wants to do more board work when she leaves her CEO job.
“It’s been three great years,” she said.
