Role eliminated as part of restructure under chief brand officer Darren Abbott

Hallmark’s executive vice-president of programming has departed the US-based outfit.

Lisa Hamilton Daly had been in the role since 2021 but is leaving following a rejig that has seen the position disbanded at the Crown Media Family Networks-owned brand.

Lisa Hamilton Daly

Hamilton Daly had been behind shows including The New Way Home and Holidazed, as well as being a key proponent behind the development of streaming service Hallmark Movies Now into Hallmark+.

The US outfit is expanding its scripted output with shows such as upcoming Ripple, while a new unscripted slate launched late last year.

Hamilton Daly previously worked at Netflix and A+E Networks.

In a statement, the company said it was “aligning its consumer-facing touch points, including content, under a single leader, chief brand officer Darren Abbott, with a focus and expertise in the expression of the Hallmark brand to consumers — from product to experiences and now content, across multiple platforms.”

Hallmark’s statement continued: “Darren has an innate understanding of the Hallmark brand and paired with his leadership and vision, will ensure our content aligns to the promise of our legacy brand.

“In this move, the position of EVP, programming was eliminated, and Lisa Hamilton Daly will depart the company.

“Lisa is an extremely talented creative leader and we are grateful for her many contributions to Hallmark Media, including expanding our storytelling and characters in new ways.”

Hamilton Daly’s exit comes three months after she and Hallmark were sued for age discrimination, defamation and wrongful termination by casting agent Penny Perry. Co-defendants included SVP of programming development Randy Pope and HR chief Paul Hodgkinson.

At the time, Hallmark said it denied the “outrageous allegations”, adding that “we are not going to discuss an employment relationship in the media.”