Lifetime Television, often referred to as
Lifetime TV, or most commonly,
Lifetime, is an
American television network devoted to
movies,
sitcoms and
dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The network is owned by
A&E Television Networks.
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,
Reba,
Still Standing,
Will & Grace,
Desperate Housewives,
Medium,
Wife Swap and
Grey's Anatomy. The network also airs original programming such as
Army Wives and
Drop Dead Diva.
In addition, Lifetime airs many movies targeting to women-both original and other networks' made for television, both on the main network and 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 Networks, the service airs Monday to Friday from 5 to 9 AM or 6 to 10 AM, depending on the market.
Lifetime was a property of
Lifetime Entertainment Services, which owned 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 the (now-defunct) original series
Angela's Eyes, using a new logo and promotions with the tagline
My story is on Lifetime. In 2008 a brand new logo appeared with a brand new tagline:
Connect. Play. Share..
On March 31, 2005, Betty Cohen, previously an executive at Turner Broadcasting Services, was named CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services according to the Walt Disney Company.
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 the spin off Lifetime Movie Network, much less Lifetime itself.
Because of the obvious feminine slant to the network's programming, Lifetime is often jokingly referred to as
The Estrogen Channel, and some criticize the network's over-reliance on formulaic
made for TV movies, including the "women in jeopardy" or "woman scorned" theme common on films produced by the network, archived product which aired on the major networks in the 1980's and 1990's, and outside producers airing their work on the network. Other comedy programs have satirized Lifetime's sometimes sentimental programming.
Family Guy once parodied their slogan, making it
Lifetime: Television for Idiots, and
in an episode had one of the main characters make a Lifetime-like film which oversimplified those themes.
On August 27, 2009,
A&E Television Networks, the owner of
A&E Network, acquired
Lifetime Entertainment Services.
Programs broadcast by Lifetime
List of programs broadcast by LifetimeSee also
