It’s not easy being an independent in the corporate jungle. Just ask the Hallmark Channel or its parent company, Crown Media Holdings Inc. A year ago, Crown began looking for a buyer for the network it had turned into a formidable basic cable force; since its debut in 2001, Hallmark Channel had grown to reach 73 million households, consistently landing among the top 10 in the ratings with its steady offering of family-friendly original movies and off-network series.

The thinking was that an entertainment conglomerate such as the Walt Disney Co. or News Corp. would scoop up the stand-alone service to bolster an existing roster of cable networks. But while offers were made, Crown’s owners deemed them too low based on the roughly $11 per share at which the company was then trading on the NASDAQ exchange, and in April, Hallmark was taken off the block.

Now, as Los Angeles-based Hallmark Channel celebrates its fifth anniversary, management seems to be opting for Plan B: investing in new programming and cleaning up the balance sheet to make the company more attractive. While no longer officially for sale, it’s common knowledge that the current owners, which include Liberty Media International Inc. and JPMorgan Chase, would be happy to entertain serious proposals.

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