As streamers offer holiday movies, 'no one does it like Hallmark,' says Candace Cameron Bure

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Hallmark channel is facing new competition to pump out holiday content from streaming players like Netflix and Disney, but actress Candace Cameron Bure, who stars in cable films and Netflix shows, says there is room for everyone.

“Obviously there is a niche for holiday movies,” Cameron Bure tells Yahoo Finance’s YFi PM. “All the other networks and platforms have caught on that there is an audience that wants them, loves them, and soaks them up. But in my opinion, no one does it like Hallmark. Hallmark is very specific in the type of movie that they have because the audience knows what they want and they stick to that.”

Hallmark reportedly spends roughly 30% of its annual production budget on Christmas films, according to the Wall Street Journal. Those movies generate about the same amount of the network’s revenue.

The holiday lineup, which began as a marketing strategy to promote the company’s greeting card brand, has now expanded to 40 new movies this year from just five in 2010.

Hallmark films
Hallmark films

Competition from streaming services

Meanwhile, Netflix (NFLX) debuted the start of its festive programming this month, which includes six new Christmas films, a new television series and two cooking shows. Disney (DIS) is jumping in too, with its new streaming service, Disney+, offering more than 20 Christmas movies.

But as an actress, Cameron Bure says there really isn’t much difference between filming for cable or filming for content in the streaming space.

“It depends on the production and what your budget is,” Cameron Bure says. “I do find though, when you’re on traditional cable because you have advertisers, that does make a difference. Whereas streaming, you watch what you watch and that’s kind of it. So there’s disadvantages to that as an actor and even as a producer.”

Hallmark spends between $1.5 million to $2.5 million on each movie, whereas big-time streaming players like Disney and Netflix spend tens of millions on production.

Cameron Bure has starred in 22 Hallmark movies, but is also a star in Netflix’s ‘Fuller House,’ the continuation of the popular TV series, ‘Full House.’ Netflix has cranked out five seasons of the reboot, and Cameron says she has enjoyed the experience.

Meghan Fitzgerald is a producer at Yahoo Finance.

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