Cut the Cord...redux

I hereby declare that the official theme song for "Cut the Cord," at least when it is said on this blog, will be sung to the tune of  "Cut the Cake" by Average White Band. I don't have any words other than "Cut the Cord," but then, how many words does "Cut the Cake" have?

Today's dispatch from the front lines of cable TV absurdity should be taken with a grain of salt because the CONcast on-screen programming guide manages to be both sparse and unreliable. But while I can't verify that the phenomenon I am about to describe did happen, I do vow to you that I saw that it was going to happen when I was scanning the guide.

Apparently, for at least one hour today, "The Brady Bunch" aired on two different channels. Now, that in itself isn't a huge deal, and if you're looking for me to hate on the Bradys, well, you've come to the wrong blog (I am available for bitter rants about Tom Brady and the Patriots). The beef I have here is not that it aired on Inspiration and TV Land (two channels that have aired the sitcom recently) at the same time. No, the problem here is that the two channels were in fact...

Hallmark and Hallmark Movie Channel.

Yes, Hallmark and Hallmark Movie Channel. I'm pretty sure those are sister networks. Know what my biggest clue is? The fact that they both have "Hallmark in their names.

It's not even a situation of channels like AMC and IFC each showing the same program. Hallmark Movie Channel is still a niche channel. Heck, HALLMARK itself is probably a niche channel by many metrics. Therefore I would submit to you that the vast majority of people who have Hallmark Movies also have Hallmark proper, meaning it's useless to put the same thing on each.

I kind of wished I had tuned in today to see if they cross-promoted. "Don't like this episode of The Brady Bunch? We've got another one over here on our other network. Don't worry, it's edited and stuffed with commercials, too!"