Hallmark Entertainment, (Hallmark Entertainment,)

RHI Entertainment (NASDAQ: RHIE), formerly known as Hallmark Entertainment, is an American producer of television movies and miniseries, founded in the 1979 by Robert Halmi Jr. and Robert Halmi Sr. as Robert Halmi Incorporated.



In 1988, the Halmis merged their company with Hal Roach Studios to form Qintex Entertainment, named after the Australian company that bought a share in the new venture. After Qintex' downfall, the Halmis repurchased the company and renamed it RHI Entertainment. Hallmark Cards purchased the company from the Halmis in 1994 and renamed it to Hallmark Entertainment. In 2006, the Halmis, along with affiliates of Kelso & Company, reacquired the company and revived the RHI name.



In 2007, RHI began offering premieres of its films to digital cable customers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Cox Cable and Comcast, via the video on demand service. Also that year, RHI licensed a number of its new movies, miniseries and back catalog titles to global subscribers of Apple's iTunes service.



RHI has an extensive library that includes material from its Hallmark Entertainment and Qintex Entertainment predecessors, including the classic Hal Roach library (Topper, Laurel and Hardy, etc.), the Lonesome Dove television franchises, and the theatrical and home video rights to the Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts released before MGM took over the series.