Lifetime (TV channel)

Predecessors There were two television channels that preceded Lifetime in its current incarnation. Daytime, originally called BETA, was launched in March 1982 by Hearst-ABC Video Services. The cable service operated four hours per day on weekdays. The service was focused on alternative women's programming. It was not an initial success, reportedly losing $36 million in its first two years of operation, and did not become profitable until 1986. The channel suffered from low viewership, with a poll reportedly finding that some TV viewers erroneously believed it carried religious content. Lifetime began programming Sundays on August 1, 1993. In 1988, Lifetime hired Patricia Fili as its head of programming. In the first three years of her tenure, she changed 60 percent of Lifetime's programming, by her own estimate. Lifetime began airing a limited amount of women's sports coverage, including the WNBA and the America's Cup, in which it sponsored the first women's crew team to compete. McCormick also strengthened the network's ties with women's organizations, such as the National Organization for Women, and began airing public service announcements about women's issues, such as breast cancer awareness. According to Lifetime executives, the network stood to lose up to one million subscribers due to TCI's move. A&E ownership On August 27, 2009, Lifetime was acquired by A&E Networks; the company was already owned by Lifetime's shareholders Hearst and Disney, but with additional shares owned by NBCUniversal. ==Programming==

Lifetime's original content is composed of made-for-TV films and reality series, such as Dance Moms. The network states that it "is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families." In the past, Lifetime used to air several game shows in daytime and early evenings, including Supermarket Sweep, ''Shop 'til You Drop, Rodeo Drive, Born Lucky, 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 canceled after one season. The network has also previously produced scripted dramas, such as Devious Maids and Witches of East End''. The network currently airs a mix of second-run syndicated series (such as How I Met Your Mother and ''Grey's Anatomy) during the daytime hours. In the past, Lifetime has revived several programs that originally aired on other networks. In 1988, it bought the rights to the existing 26 episodes of The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'' from its original broadcaster NBC, and produced 39 additional episodes of the series. Lifetime did not renew the show reportedly because of low ratings and the high cost to produce the program. although special feature episodes continued to air intermittently on Fox. Lifetime aired more than 40 new episodes of the program before cancelling it in 2013. In 2018, Lifetime premiered Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance, a story about the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It also premiered the James Corden-produced Seatbelt Psychic with Thomas John. Films In addition to feature films, as well as made-for-television films previously broadcast on other networks, Lifetime is known for producing various original films of its own. These films are produced by the network's own Lifetime Pictures unit. A movie-focused spin-off channel, known informally as the Lifetime Movie Network or "LMN" due to its frequent rebrands, was launched in 1998. Sports In its early years, Lifetime occasionally broadcast coverage of women's professional sports. From its inaugural season in 1997 to 2000, Lifetime was one of three broadcasters of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), alongside NBC and ESPN. In 2000, Lifetime phased out its live broadcasts and replaced them with an original series documenting the lives of WNBA players. The network stated that it wanted to focus on "stories" rather than event coverage; the program package would move to ESPN2. As part of an arrangement with Raycom Sports, the network also broadcast the LPGA's Tournament of Champions in 1998. In February 2017, A&E Networks acquired an equity stake in the National Women's Soccer League, and announced that Lifetime would broadcast a weekly, Saturday-afternoon game beginning in the 2017 season. High Definition Lifetime launched an HD simulcast on April 16, 2008. ==International versions==

Canada On May 30, 2012, Canadian television broadcaster Shaw Media announced that it would rebrand Showcase Diva, a Category B subscription specialty channel as the Canadian version of Lifetime under a licensing agreement with A+E Networks; Showcase Diva relaunched as Lifetime on August 27, 2012. Southeast Asia AETN All Asia Networks plans to bring the Lifetime channel into Southeast Asia. The channel began broadcasting on June 14, 2013, 6.00 p.m with Astro and StarHub TV being two of the first providers to carry Lifetime in Asia. In July, available in Hong Kong now TV channel 520. And since September 1, 2014, Lifetime Asia airs in the Philippines on Dream Satellite TV channel 18 and SkyCable. United Kingdom and Ireland A+E Networks UK launched a version of Lifetime for the UK and Ireland in November 2013. The network was unsuccessful in the market, as Lifetime's program contractors instead distributed their programming on different networks, and it slowly lost rights over the years. The channel closed at 06:00 on March 1, 2021, after A+E Networks UK contracted with Discovery+ to carry Lifetime's original network-produced American programming in the UK and Ireland. Latin America Lifetime announced the launch of a Latin American version of the network, which launched on July 1, 2014, in association with Sony Pictures Television Latin America. It supplanted the now-defunct Sony Spin channel (formerly known as Locomotion from 1996 to 2005 and Animax from 2005 to 2011) on the Amazonas satellite serving South America. Lifetime Latin America is currently distributed by Ole Distribution, currently based in Bogotá, Colombia, under license from A+E Networks Latin America and Sony Pictures Television Latin America. In Brazil, its programming is fully dubbed in Portuguese. In Mexico, it was launched on October 1, 2014, replacing The Biography Channel. Africa A+E Networks launched the African version of Lifetime on Channel 131 on DStv on July 22, 2014. On April 25, 2022, it was announced the channel alongside Lifetime Play would cease transmission in Africa by the end of May. Israel A+E Networks launched a version of Lifetime for Israel on September 14, 2014, replacing The Biography Channel. Turkey On March 16, 2016, A&E Networks announced that Lifetime (Turkey) channel would be launched on April 26, 2016, in Turkey with the cooperation of Multi Channel Developers. Lifetime Turkey ceased operations on April 26, 2019. South Korea A localized version of Lifetime was launched on September 22, 2017, by A+E Networks Asia-Pacific and local company iHQ. Its programming primarily consists of Korean dramas, talk shows, and entertainment programs. Backstreet Rookie is the first Korean drama invested in by the channel. MENA In 2019, A&E Networks was scheduled to launch a version of Lifetime for the Middle East & Northern Africa region. Australia A&E Networks launched a version of Lifetime Movie Network for Australia on September 1, 2020, as a joint venture with the Foxtel network. The channel closed at midnight on July 31, 2025, as the remaining content migrated to 9Now. ==LRW==

LRW, or Lifetime Real Women, is an American pay television channel which is intended as a complementary service to the main Lifetime network. It was launched in August 2001, mainly as a response to Lifetime's challenges from the then-launching WE tv and Oxygen networks for the women's network market. LRW is available in over 10 million homes via some cable providers, Verizon FiOS, and AT&T U-verse. The network has a mixture of comedies, dramas, how-to, game shows and reality programming that had once aired or is currently airing on the main Lifetime network, and formerly imported series with rights held by Lifetime but no carriage due to the main network's current format. LRW also features no original series or films, deferring from Lifetime and LMN, though it did burn off the 2011 Lifetime reality series Love Handles: Couples in Crisis, which only aired twice on the main network. DirecTV carried the network until July 2007. Orby TV also carried the network for the last year of that service's existence. Overall carriage has declined as providers choose instead to carry high definition networks rather than standard definition-only channels such as LRW without original programming, and Lifetime itself promoting on-demand access to past series, along with broadcast venues such as Start TV, the defunct Twist and TrueReal subchannel networks, and ad-supported streaming FAST channels. In recent years, LRW has lost carriage with the growth of streaming alternatives and has generally been depreciated by A+E Global Media in current retransmission consent negotiations with cable and streaming providers. ==Lifetime Movie Club==

On July 2, 2015, Lifetime launched a streaming service branded as Lifetime Movie Club. The service offers over 2,000 titles, both originally-produced and acquired by Lifetime. ==References==