Lifetime Television

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Lifetime Television
Launched	February 1, 1984
Owned by	Lifetime Entertainment Services
Slogan	My story is on...
Sister channel(s)	Lifetime Real Women, Lifetime Movie Network
Website	www.lifetimetv.com
Availability
Terrestrial
USDTV	Channel 99.10
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 252
Dish Network	Channel 108
Cable
Available on most cable systems	Check Local Listings for channels

Lifetime Television is an American television network devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared towards women or feature women in lead roles. The channel was founded on February 1, 1984 (coincidentially the same day A&E began). Lifetime's headquarters are based in Manhattan. In April 2006, the network operations facilities moved to 111 8th Avenue in the Chelsea section of New York City. Lifetime also has branch offices in Los Angeles, California and Chicago, Illinois.

Contents 1 History 2 Carriers 3 Network Logo Gallery 4 Programs broadcast by Lifetime 4.1 Original programming 4.2 Syndicated programming 5 Weekday Schedule 6 See also 7 External link

[edit] History

Lifetime was established as the result of a merger of Hearst's Daytime network, established in March 1982 as a four hour per day service with women's programming and Viacom's Cable Health Network, established in June 1982 as a 24-hour service that carried health and wellness programming.

The service originally aired women's programming during the day on Monday–Saturdays, and offered the Lifetime Medical Television service on Sundays from November 1983 to June 1993 carrying programming for health professionals.

Among the most popular shows currently on the channel are Frasier, The Nanny, The Golden Girls, Reba, Still Standing,and Will & Grace. The network has recently acquired and added past episodes of Desperate Housewives and Medium to its weekend lineup. The network also airs original programming such as Strong Medicine, Intimate Portrait, The Division, and Angela's Eyes. In January 2007, Grey's Anatomy will be added to the weekend lineup.

In addition, Lifetime airs many original movies targeting to women as well, films also seen on Lifetime Movie Network (launched in 1998).

Aside from women's programming, the network used to air several game shows in prime time, including Supermarket Sweep, Shop 'Til You Drop and Debt. Lifetime also produced one original game show (Who Knows You Best?, starring Gina St. John), with a format based on The Newlywed Game. It was cancelled after one season.

In April 2004, Lifetime launched Lifetime Radio for Women, a daily nationally syndicated four-hour morning block mixing adult contemporary music, live caller interaction, celebrity guests and lively discussions about the topics relating to women. In partnership with Jones Radio, The service airs Monday to Friday from 5 to 9 a.m. or 6 to 10 a.m., depending on the market.

Lifetime is a property of Lifetime Entertainment Services, which owns a number of media ventures. Viacom remained as co-owner with ABC/Capital Cities and Hearst until 1994.

Around 2005, Lifetime dropped its signature tagline Television for Women (used since 1995). The network launched a new look and tagline on July 16, 2006 with the launch of new original series Angela's Eyes, using a new logo and promotions with the tagline My story is on....

Lifetime's main competitors as "women's channels" are the Oxygen Network and WE: Women's Entertainment, although both of those services have substantially lower ratings than Lifetime Movie Network, much less Lifetime.

Because of the obvious feminine slant to the network's programming, Lifetime, along with Oxygen Network, are often jokingly referred to as The Estrogen Channel. Other comedy programs have satirized Lifetime's sometimes sentimental programing. Family Guy once parodied their slogan, making it Lifetime: Television for Idiots.

[edit] Carriers

On January 1, 2006, Dish Network dropped Lifetime, becoming the only major U.S. multichannel television distributor not carrying the channel. This was a result of contract expiration. Dish Network chose to continue with the discontinuation of the transmission. Should they have decided to renew the contract, Dish Network claimed that this would have forced them to increase rates by as much as 76.47%, although Dish sometimes quoted other figures in their press releases. Lifetime responded by claiming that the rates were only four cents per viewer per month and that even at the end of the contract the total increases were nowhere near 76%. Neither side issued complete figures to verify their claims. Dish would eventually add competitor Oxygen to its channel line-up later in the month.

On February 1, 2006, Lifetime's 22nd birthday, Dish announced they were returning Lifetime Television and Lifetime Movie Network to their service.[1]

[edit] Network Logo Gallery

Lifetime's original logo, used from about 1984-1995.

The second and longest-used logo for Lifetime, used from 1995 until July 2006

Special logo celebrating the network's 20th anniversary in 2004

Current logo and tagline for the network, launched in July 2006 during the launch of Angela's Eyes

[edit] Programs broadcast by Lifetime

† - Seasons 3-5 of The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd were produced exclusively for Lifetime after airing for two seasons on NBC.

[edit] Weekday Schedule

Lifetime's Weekday Schedule (Monday - Friday) effective April 2, 2007. Original Programming is in red; syndicated programming is in yellow; orange is for mixed time slots; and green is for movie time slots.

Times given are ET/PT.

8:00 AM	The Nanny
8:30 AM	The Nanny
9:00 AM	The Golden Girls
9:30 AM	The Golden Girls
10:00 AM	Frasier
10:30 AM	Frasier
11:00 AM	Will & Grace
11:30 AM	Will & Grace
12:00 PM	Movie
2:00 PM	Movie
4:00 PM	The Golden Girls
4:30 PM	The Golden Girls
5:00 PM	Still Standing
5:30 PM	Still Standing
6:00 PM	Reba
6:30 PM	Reba
7:00 PM	Still Standing (2 episodes)
8:00 PM	Reba (2 episodes)
9:00 PM	Movie
11:00 PM	Will & Grace (Desperate Housewives on Fridays)
11:30 PM	Will & Grace
12:00 AM	Frasier
12:30 AM	Frasier
1:00 AM	The Golden Girls
1:30 AM	Strong Medicine

• Subtract one hour for Central and two hours Mountain time.

Weekend TV series

Saturdays 11:00 PM	Medium
Sundays 10:00 PM	Blood Ties
Sundays 11:00 PM	Grey's Anatomy

[edit] See also

• Lifetime Movie Network
• Lifetime Real Women, launched in 2001.

[edit] External link

• Official Site