ABC and the Hearst Corporation in January 1981 formed a joint venture, Hearst/ABC Video Services (HAVS), to provide programming to Alpha Repertory Television Service and launch BETA, a women's cable service, later that year. Beta was supposed to operate four hours a day and be supported by advertising.[2] HAVS instead launched the service under the name Daytime in March 1982.[1]
Cable Health Network
Cable Health Network was a 24-hour cable channel launched by Viacom with health-related programming in June 1982.[1]
In June 1983, Hearst-ABC Video Services and Viacom International agreed to combine Hearst-ABC Video Services and Cable Health Network, creating the joint venture Hearst/ABC-Viacom Entertainment Services, which contained the merged Daytime and Lifetime Medical Television satellite channel.[3]
History
Hearst/ABC-Viacom Entertainment Services
In 1984, Hearst/ABC-Viacom Entertainment Services (HAVES) was formed from the merger of Daytime and Lifetime Medical Television to start and operate a new cable channel, Lifetime Television.[1]
Lifetime committed $25 million to produce talk show programming, but very little worked with the audience. So by the end of 1985, Lifetime was $16 million in debt. Lifetime added more original programming to diversify its audience while programming a medical block on Sunday with all the medical talk shows which attracted pharmaceutical advertisers bringing in 25% of the network's revenue. By 1986, the talk shows were canceled and the company was $36 million in debt.[1]
Lifetime instead refocused its programming towards women in 1986 and acquired second run syndicated programming and off-network shows.[1] Beginning in the early 1990, Lifetime began producing multiple, original telefilms each year targeting the female audience. Over the next decade, the original movies boosted Lifetime TV's ratings, and successfully launched the "Television for Women" era and brand.[1]
In September 1991, HAVES launched Healthlink Television, which created health and wellness content, and provided the equipment to broadcast it into doctors' offices.[1][4] Eventually, and to focus on its original content to support its women-centric brand, HAVES agreed to sell Healthlink TV to Whittle Communications.
In October 1991, HAVES reorganized the company to have five group vice-presidents run the company so the CEO/President can focus on new programming acquisitions, the startup of new programming ventures, and to develop growth strategies; putting plans into motion that increased budgets for original content produced in New York and California by 50%.[5]
In 1993, and to better utilize its existing NY studio facilities that independently operated at the Kaufman Astoria Studios (KAS) complex, "Lifetime Studios" was created as an anchor KAS tenant and as a stand-alone profit center for the company. The 100,000 square foot digital facility was intended to produce the network's NY-based original programming, as well as to provide studios, post-production, equipment and personnel for third party productions. During the next 12 years, under the aegis of Vice-President/General Manager Mitchell Brill, the studios and its production management and engineering team supported the production of thousands of hours of network content, and was simultaneously home to over 400 projects for an array of other global media companies.
By 2000, entering the first dotcom era of emerging television and internet platforms, Lifetime Studios provided the facilities and technical expertise for some of the first interactive, cross-platform projects and companies, while also pushing to the forefront of the use of tapeless, server-based hardware and software for television production. Dubbed a "studio of the future", Lifetime Studios was an industry leader until operations ceased upon the expiration of its lease in 2005.
Lifetime Entertainment Services
Viacom sold its stake for $317 million in April 1994 to Hearst and Cap Cities/ABC,[6] becoming at some point Lifetime Entertainment Services (LES). For 1996, LES committed $100 million towards original programming. In 1996, the channel's website was launched, Lifetimetv.com. With its recent involvement in sponsoring and programming women sports, the company started a sports division. Lifetime in fall 1998 spins off a new cable channel, Lifetime Movie Network.[1]
In November 1998, it was announced that CEO Douglas McCormick's contract would not be renewed when it was up at the end of the year. Although Lifetime staff members reportedly were "dumbfounded" because the network had been so financially successful during McCormick's tenure, board members wanted someone who would "bring more vision" to the company.[7] Board members reportedly were so insistent upon hiring a woman to replace McCormick that at one point during negotiations when his contract was about to expire, McCormick threatened to bring a sex-discrimination lawsuit against them, but decided against it.[8]
In 1999, LES started up its own in house production unit. In 2001, LES launched another spin off channel, Lifetime Real Women and published its first Lifetime imprint book.[1] The company purchased a 4.6% equity stake in Women.com Networks Inc. in September 2000.[9]
In April 2004, Lifetime launched Lifetime Radio for Women, a daily nationally syndicated four-hour morning show mixing adult contemporary music, live caller interaction, celebrity guests and lively discussions about the topics relating to women. In partnership with Jones Radio Networks, the service aired Monday to Friday from 5:00a.m. to 9:00a.m. or 6:00a.m. to 10 a.m., depending on the market.[citation needed]
On March 31, 2005, Betty Cohen, previously an executive at Turner Broadcasting System, was named CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services.[10]
On August 27, 2009, as part of a corporate restructuring A&E Television Networks (another subsidiary of ABC and Hearst that handled cable networks) acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services.[11][12]Nancy Dubuc became Lifetime's president and general manager in April 2010.[13]
Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward women or features women in lead roles. As of January 2016, it is received by 93.8 million households in America.
Paramount Media Networks is an American mass media division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of many of its television channels and online brands. Its related international division is Paramount International Networks.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and is headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.
Flix is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. Its programming consists solely of theatrically released motion pictures released from the 1970s to the present day, interspersed with some films from the 1950s and 1960s.
Hearst Television, Inc. is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications, made up of a group of television and radio stations, and Hearst Media Production Group, a distributor of programming in broadcast syndication.
A&E Networks is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company owns several non-fiction and entertainment-based television brands, including its namesake A&E, History, Lifetime, FYI, and their associated sister channels, and holds stakes in or licenses their international branches.
Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship service Showtime. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks division.
Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is part of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company that oversees its owned-and-operated television content, assets and sub-divisions.
Paramount Global Content Distribution is the international television distribution arm of American media conglomerate, Paramount Global, originally established in 1962 as the international distribution division of Desilu Productions. With the sale of Desilu to Gulf+Western, then-owners of film studio Paramount Pictures, in 1968, the division evolved into Paramount's first foray into the international television industry in the 1970s.
Disney Platform Distribution, Inc. is a business unit within Disney Entertainment that manages all third-party media sales efforts for distribution, affiliate marketing and affiliate-related business operations for all of the company's direct-to-consumer services and linear media networks; content sales agreements for Disney Entertainment and ESPN.
ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder.
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel. The OWN is a joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios, conceptualized largely by popular talkshow host, Oprah Winfrey—the name of Harpo Studios is Winfrey’s first name, spelled backwards.
LMN, an initialism for the Lifetime Movie Network, also known as Lifetime Movies, is an American pay television network launched on June 29, 1998 and owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Disney Entertainment division of The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications.
Douglas (Doug) Walter McCormick is a venture partner with Rho Ventures focusing on investments in new media. He is also the chairman of the board of directors for Everyday Health and LIN Media and is the former president and CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services, the parent company of Lifetime Television Networks and the former chairman and CEO of iVillage.
Awesomeness is an American-based film and television studio as well as a multi-channel based multilingual television network owned by Paramount Digital Studios, a division of Paramount Global. Established in June 2012 by Brian Robbins and Joe Davola, the network initially focused on children’s programs, teen dramas, comedies, live events, and music videos targeting adolescents and young adults.
Patricia Fili-Krushel is an American businesswoman and media executive. She is currently CEO of the Center for Talent Innovation and sits on the board of directors for Reddit, Dollar General and Chipotle Mexican Grill. Fili-Krushel has served as Chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group, Executive Vice President, Administration at Time Warner Inc., CEO of WebMD, President of the ABC Television Network, and President of ABC Daytime.
Disney Media Networks was a business segment of The Walt Disney Company that oversaw the company's television networks, cable channels, television production and distribution studios, and owned-and-operated television stations. The segment's primary divisions were Walt Disney Television and A&E Networks.
Lifetime Medical Television (LMT) was a television service featuring programming directed at doctors. It aired on the Lifetime cable channel in the United States from 1983 to 1993. Co-owned with the network by Hearst-ABC/Viacom Entertainment Services (HAVES), LMT was the longest-running specialist program service for doctors at its closure. Some of its programs were sponsored by a core group of pharmaceutical companies, who also aired advertisements for specific drugs aimed at physicians.
1 Owned by Montclair Communications and operated by Hearst under an LMA. 2 Carries the network in a secondary status on a subchannel.
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