Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A+E Global Media, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company.[2][3] It features programming that is geared toward women or features women in lead roles. As of November 2023, Lifetime is available to approximately 63,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2011 peak of 100,000,000 households.[4]
As of November 2023, Lifetime has garnered nominations for 63 Emmy Awards, 8 Golden Globe Awards and 20 Critics' Choice Movie Awards.[5]
History
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.[6][7][8] The cable service operated four hours per day on weekdays. The service was focused on alternative women's programming.[7] The following year, the Cable Health Network was launched as a full-time channel in June 1982 with a range of health-related programming.
Hearst/ABC-Viacom Entertainment Services
Lifetime was established on February 1, 1984, as the result of a merger of Hearst/ABC's Daytime and
Programming
"Lifetime, best known for its 'women in peril' original movies"
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."[22]
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.
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.[34]
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.[35]
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.[47] 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,[48] 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
Lifetime Movie Club
On July 2, 2015, Lifetime launched a streaming service branded as Lifetime Movie Club.[49] The service offers over 2,000 titles, both originally-produced and acquired by Lifetime.
External links
References
- Watch Free Lifetime Movies and TV Shows Online - Tubi retrieved 2026-02-20^
- Michael Schneider. A&E Acquires Lifetime Variety, August 27, 2009, retrieved April 11, 2017^
- Claire Atkinson. A&E Networks, Lifetime Merger Completed