Hallmark Movies Now Enables SharePlay Feature Allowing Apple Users to Watch Together
This is truly the best time of the year for the Hallmark Channel and its family of networks, as well as its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Hallmark Movies Now. As the holidays draw closer Hallmark has announced it is giving select Hallmark Movies Now users a new way to watch its famous original Christmas and holiday films together.
Hallmark Media announced today that Hallmark Movies Now has enabled Apple’s SharePlay feature, providing a new and easy way for fellow subscribers to watch movies and shows from the Hallmark library together. The feature allows iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to synchronize playback in the Hallmark Movies Now app across individual devices while simultaneously participating in a FaceTime call. Now, there is a fun and simple way for anywhere from two to 32 friends to have a Hallmark watch party across devices regardless of distance.
SharePlay can also be sent via AirPlay to the big screen on Apple TV streaming devices, allowing Hallmark content to be viewed on television sets while maintaining FaceTime calls to share comments and reactions with co-viewing friends. The launch comes as the streaming service rolls out its annual holiday programming event “Movies & Mistletoe,” featuring a curated selection of fan-favorite Hallmark holiday programming.
The new SharePlay feature on Hallmark Movies Now is available only to users of enabled Apple devices.
Related: Check out a list of the best Christmas and holiday movies coming to Hallmark, and every other major service
Hallmark Movies Now offers ad-free streaming of offers thousands of hours of Hallmark’s signature feel-good programming in the form of movies and ongoing series. Nearly all media found on the service is exclusive to the Hallmark brand, created either specifically for Hallmark Movies Now, or collected from across Hallmark’s cable networks the Hallmark Channel, [Hallmark Movies & Mysteries], and [Hallmark Drama]. A subscription to Hallmark Movies Now costs $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year.
Even though it’s No. 1 destination across the United States for holiday movies, Hallmark has not been resting on its laurels this year. The channel recently struck a deal to be carried on Hulu + Live TV and in October began offering a dedicated programming hub on Peacock, which allows users to have access to live streams of Hallmark channels and a curated library of movies and shows.
Hallmark also entered into an agreement this year with the ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service Canela.TV to offer a selection of its holiday classics dubbed in Spanish. When people think holidays, they think Hallmark, and thanks to the enabling of the SharePlay feature on Hallmark Movies Now, they’ll be able to watch their favorite movies together, even if they’re far apart geographically.
Hallmark Movies Now
Hallmark Movies Now is a cable-free subscription service that offers thousands of hours of Hallmark’s signature feel-good programming in the form of movies and ongoing series. Nearly all media found on the service is exclusive to the Hallmark brand, created either specifically for Hallmark Movies Now, or pulled from another source of Hallmark such as Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies and & Mysteries, or Hallmark Drama. The service is straightforward, offering complete ad-free access to all content with the choice of either a monthly or a yearly subscription.