COMPANY TOWN ANNEX

Hallmark to Shed Cable Unit: The company agreed to sell its Crown Media cable television operation for $900 million. In announcing the deal, Hallmark Cards Inc. said it will concentrate on developing TV programs rather than delivering them. Dallas-based Crown Media will be sold to Charter Communications of St. Louis and Marcus Cable of Dallas. Under the deal, Charter will acquire 630,000 Crown Media cable customers in five states, including Missouri. Both Crown and Charter have large bases in St. Louis. Marcus will get Crown Media’s remaining 260,000 customers, most of whom are in Wisconsin.