Hallmark movies may be “a little cookie-cutter,” but audiences don’t seem to mind

Over the last few decades, Hallmark has become synonymous with holiday movies, especially Christmas. The Hallmark Channel produced 42 movies for last Christmas season alone, and five more movies are slated to come out for the network’s Valentine’s Day-themed programming, “Loveuary.”

But it’s not just scale; people are tuning in. Last Thanksgiving, the premier of Hallmark’s “A Merry Scottish Christmas” topped cable news programs for numbers of viewers.

“Is it a little cookie-cutter? It is,” said Danyel Smith, contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine. “People are loving it though.” Smith wrote about audiences’ attraction to Hallmark movies and spoke about it with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal.

To hear their conversation, click the audio player above.