E!

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

E! Entertainment Television
SDTV feed)
Ownership
OwnerNBCUniversal (Comcast)
ParentNBCUniversal Media Group
Sister channels
List
History
LaunchedJuly 31, 1987; 36 years ago (1987-07-31)
FounderLarry Namer
Alan Mruvka
Former namesMovietime (1987–1990)
Links
Websitewww.eonline.com
Availability
Streaming media
Streaming ServicesSling TV, YouTube TV, fuboTV, Hulu Live TV, DirecTV Stream
Claro TV+(requires subscription to access content)

E! Entertainment Television is an American

television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal
. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movies.

As of January 2016, E! is available to 92.4 million households in the United States.[1]

History

Movietime

E! was originally launched on July 31, 1987, as Movietime, a service that aired movie trailers, entertainment news, event and awards coverage, and interviews as an early example of a national barker channel.[2] The channel was founded by Larry Namer and Alan Mruvka.[3][4] Early Movietime hosts included Greg Kinnear, Katie Wagner, Julie Moran, Suzanne Kay (daughter of Diahann Carroll), Mark DeCarlo, Sam Rubin and Richard Blade.

E!

E!'s logo from the launch under that branding. Used from June 1, 1990, until July 8, 2012, for the US flagship channel. Remained in use for many of E!'s international networks until they gradually began rebranding with the current US logo.

Controlling ownership was originally held by a

Continental Cablevision, Cox Cable, TCI, and Warner Cable), HBO/Warner Communications, and various founding shareholders, with HBO directly programming and managing the network. In 1989, after Time Inc. bought Warner Communications to fend off a takeover bid by Paramount, the new Time Warner company held four of the eight major ownership positions and took over management control of Movietime and renamed the network as E!: Entertainment Television on June 1, 1990 based in Los Angeles; this name change was made to emphasize its widening coverage of the celebrity–industrial complex
, contemporary film, television and music, daily Hollywood gossip, and fashion.

In 1997, Comcast, one of the minority partners, teamed up with

Disney/ABC Cable Networks to buy the channel after Time Warner had exercised their put agreement.[5] Comcast increased the ownership stakes in the network through mergers with forerunners of TCI and Continental under various circumstances. In November 2006, Comcast acquired Disney's 39.5% share of E! for $1.23 billion to gain full ownership of the network as part of a broader programming carriage agreement between Disney/ABC and Comcast.[6]

In January 2011, Comcast Entertainment Group, the company's television unit, became a division of the

NBC Sports Network
in January 2012, and are no longer connected to their former sister networks beyond advertising and in-house operations.

On July 9, 2012, the channel introduced a revised logo (the first change to its logo since the network rebranded as E! in 1990), removing the exclamation mark background behind the "E" but keeping the exclamation point underneath, along with a new slogan "Pop of Culture", which coincided with the launch of the new series Opening Act. The network also started the process of introducing scripted programming (the first series, The Royals, premiering in March 2015), in addition to its existing reality and documentary series. The changes were announced during E!'s programming upfront presentation on April 30, 2012.[8]

Programming

News

E! is one of the few U.S. general-entertainment cable channels that broadcasts a daily news program; its flagship entertainment news program is

Terrence Jenkins and Giuliana Rancic since 2012 and 2006, respectively, with Ryan Seacrest (who co-anchored the program from 2006 to 2012) serving as managing editor
of the news operation.

E! News was the only entertainment news show on the channel for much of its history until 2006, when the channel launched

Sal Masekela and Catt Sadler (Debbie Matenopoulos also co-hosted from the show's inception until 2008); the series was cancelled in September 2010 after E! announced that the weekday editions of E! News would be expanded to one hour starting on October 25, 2010.[9]

E! also carried a simulcast of business news channel Bloomberg Television from 2004 to January 2009, when the latter network had expanded its cable and satellite carriage to a level that allowed the discontinuation of the simulcast.

Outside E! News telecasts, the channel runs an E! News–branded news ticker displaying entertainment news headlines each half-hour during regular programming; fast-breaking entertainment headlines (such as a celebrity arrest or death) may also be displayed on a ticker, during any program when warranted.

On August 5, 2020, E! canceled both New York-based shows, along with In The Room, one of the first of many program and employee cuts and staff realignments announced across NBCUniversal that week due to the pandemic.[10][11] The news operation continued to maintain the E! News website, and its social media presences. Two years later, E! announced that E! News would be revived as a late-night entertainment news program and would return to the E! network after a two-year hiatus, with

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and Justin Sylvester (the latter of whom returned to the show for the revival) serving as co-hosts; it premiered on November 14, 2022.[12][13]

Original series

The network was known early on for its daily video simulcast of the Howard Stern Show, which aired from June 20, 1994, until July 8, 2005, weeknights in a truncated half-hour form, airing three times in late night. The program was discontinued several months after Stern moved to Sirius Satellite Radio and sold the video rights to his show to pay-per-view provider In Demand as a monthly pay offering (video rights are now held by Sirius XM).[14]

E! is known for its live red carpet pre-shows for the industry's three prominent award shows, the

Golden Globe Awards, and the Academy Awards, and were famous for their fashion critiques by Joan Rivers; Rivers also hosted post-awards specials under the title Fashion Police, which became a regular weekly series in September 2010. In April 2017, it was announced that E! had acquired the People's Choice Awards, which will move to the network from CBS in 2018 with a new November scheduling. The network promoted that the show would be given an "end-to-end" experience that will leverage its existing experience in awards show coverage.[15][16]
As ratings declined across all of cable television overall, the People's Choice returned to broadcast television in 2021, with E! simulcasting the ceremony with NBC.

The network also produces many documentary and biographical series, most notably E! True Hollywood Story; many of E!'s original specials are entertainment-related ranging from light fare (such as 25 Cutest Child Stars All Grown Up) to serious fare (such as 15 Most Unforgettable Hollywood Tragedies). It also produces specials centering on investigative and crime stories including E! Investigates, which features topical investigative reports on subjects ranging from child prostitution to teenage pregnancy.

In recent years, the network has become known for its

Bella Twins, Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, the plastic surgery repair series Dr. 90210 and Botched, along with Very Cavallari with Kristin Cavallari and her (later ex-) husband Jay Cutler, Ladygang–a television version of the popular podcast, and dating show Dating #NoFilter,[17][18][19]

E! has had five comedy programs: the late night talk show Chelsea Lately, hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler, its scripted/improvised spin-off After Lately, and The Soup (based on the popular 1991–2002 E! series Talk Soup), featuring clips of the previous week's TV shows with humorous commentary delivered by the host, actor/comedian Joel McHale. Handler also produced Love You, Mean It, a weekly comedic look at pop culture hosted by Whitney Cummings, and a nightly talk show from actress Busy Philipps, Busy Tonight. The Soup returned in February 2020, with new host Jade Catta-Preta, though it, and many of E!'s in-studio shows, were cancelled in the last quarter of 2020 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic hampering production.

On September 8, 2020, it was announced the network's most popular series Keeping Up with the Kardashians would be ending with season 20 in 2021.

Acquired series and films

Over the years, E! has occasionally run acquired programming including reruns of

The Voice, Fashion Star, Whitney, and Are You There, Chelsea?), and in the past aired previews of G4 programming to give that network an extended promotional platform due to their lowered carriage when it was removed from DirecTV in November 2010.[20] The network also airs selected shows from the Peacock
streaming service (which E!'s parent company NBCUniversal owns).

Sports programming

Since Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal, E! has infrequently aired sporting events as an overflow outlet for NBC Sports. It has participated in NBC's "Championship Sunday" effort to broadcast all matches on the final matchday of the Premier League soccer season.[21] In January 2022—amid the shutdown of long-time sister channel NBCSN—E! was incorporated into NBC Sports' coverage of two figure skating events ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the 2022 European Figure Skating Championships and Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.[22]

E! HD

E! HD is a high definition simulcast feed of E! launched on December 8, 2008, in Comcast's default 1080i resolution format. Currently, the network's entire original programming roster post-2010 is carried in high definition, along with most films. Available on the vast majority of pay television providers, it is downscaled at the provider headend level to provide a standard definition equivalent for those systems.[20]

During E!'s run as a broadcast service in Canada, the E! Ontario version of the service until the December 2008 discontinuation of the E! broadcast television system was available in HD over

CHCH-TV (channel 11) on its channel 18 ATSC digital signal, though the majority of E!'s programming outside American primetime series before the shutdown of the television system was not available in the format.[20]

E! Online

E! Online is the online arm of E!, featuring live updates on entertainment news stories; the website includes an online-only entertainment news bulletin titled E! News Now, which is updated each weekday. The website also provides live streaming video of major red carpet events including movie premieres and award shows such as the Academy Awards and the Emmys, along with some blogs involving shows such as The Soup. Columnists featured on the website include Kristin dos Santos (the "Watch with Kristin" television blog), Ted Casablanca ("The Awful Truth" gossip blog), and Marc Malkin (writer of an eponymous gossip blog and host of a daily video blog on the site).[citation needed]

As part of the rebrand of the cable channel on July 9, 2012, EOnline.com was redesigned for HTML5, including tablet and mobile devices.[23]

International versions

Australia and New Zealand

Canada

Unlike most international cable channels that have licensed an American cable channel's branding and programming, E! has existed as two separate television channels in Canada – in both broadcast and pay television forms.[20]

On September 7, 2007,

Rogers Media-owned Citytv system.[20] As E!, local news and other regional programming, as well as most local community sponsorships on the O&O stations, used local branding (incorporating the callsign branding scheme common with Canadian stations not owned by a network or television system).[20] This decision was at least partly made to avoid confusion with E! News, but likely intended to ensure that local newscasts were not perceived as celebrity-oriented.[20]

The E! brand would later return to Canada on November 1, 2010, when

Category 2 specialty channel Star! (which had a similar format to E! U.S. and had carried some of its programming prior to the 2007 rebranding of CH) into a Canadian version of E!
on November 29, 2010.

Europe

Asia

E!'s Asian network aired across Southeast Asia and the Philippines from May 3, 1995, until December 31, 2019.

Philippines

Some of E! programs started to air on Cinema Television during its inception by

UHF Channel 31; now acquired by BEAM).[24] But in 2000, both RMN and E! announced its partnership to relaunch CTV into E! Philippines.[25]
It was originally broadcast 24 hours a day, but eventually reduced in 2001 to a primetime 6-midnight block, before ending in 2003. Some of E!'s programs were brought to the Philippines and remade in a local version, one of which was Wild On! Philippines.

Three years after the relaunch as a standalone cable channel,[26] E! produced its first original reality series in Asia, It Takes Gutz to Be A Gutierrez starring the Gutierrez family.

Israel

E! is broadcast in Israel by cable provider

yes
.

Latin America

E! it is distributed in Latin America, since January 1, 1997, being operated by NBCUniversal International Networks and distributed by Ole Distribution (a joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and Ole Communications). Its operations center is located in Caracas, Bogotá and Mexico City.

South Korea

References

  1. ^ "Cable Network Coverage Area Household Universe Estimates: January 2016". Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  2. ^ Gerard, Jeremy (June 3, 1990). "TELEVISION; Fledgling Cable Networks Are Poised for Flight". The New York Times.
  3. .
  4. ^ Dougherty, Philip H. (July 30, 1987). "Advertising; Promoting Movies Via Cable". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  5. ^ Comcast Corp. Gains Exclusive Right to Buy E! Entertainment, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (originated from The Philadelphia Inquirer; via HighBeam Research), January 11, 1997.
  6. ^ "Comcast and the Walt Disney Company Announce Long-Term Comprehensive Distribution Agreements Securing Carriage for Disney Media Networks' Products and Services". Comcast. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  7. PCWorld
    , December 3, 2009.
  8. ^ E! Unveils New Logo, 'Pop of Culture' Tagline Archived August 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, The Hollywood Reporter, April 30, 2012.
  9. ^ E! Expands Weeknight Newscast To One Hour Archived September 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine 2011 NewBay Media September 21, 2010
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 5, 2020). "'E! News', 'Pop Of The Morning', 'In The Room' Canceled By E!". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  11. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (August 6, 2020). "NBCUniversal TV Shake-Up: NBC's Paul Telegdy Out, Frances Berwick to Oversee Networks". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  12. ^ White, Peter (October 20, 2022). "E! News Returns With Nightly Telecast After Two-Year Break; Adrienne Bailon-Houghton & Justin Sylvester To Host". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  13. ^ Panaligan, E. J. (October 21, 2022). "'E! News' Nightly Broadcast to Return After Two-Year Hiatus (TV News Roundup)". Variety. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "E! pulls the plug on Howard Stern". TODAY.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  15. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (December 14, 2017). "People's Choice Awards Sets Premiere Date For Inaugural Telecast On E!". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 6, 2017). "People's Choice Awards Moves From CBS To E!". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  17. ^ Petski, Denise (December 12, 2018). "E! Orders 'Dating #NoFilter' Blind Dating Series For January Premiere". Deadline. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  18. ^ "Will 'Dating #NoFilter' Return For Season 2? It's The MTV-Style Throwback You Need To See". Bustle. February 21, 2019. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  19. ^ "E!'s New Unscripted Series 'Dating #NoFilter' Premieres Jan. 21". www.realitywanted.com. January 11, 2019. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h "Out with the E!, in with the new at Canwest upfront". Marketing Magazine. June 3, 2009. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  21. ^ "Non-soccer fans were pissed off that Premier League soccer was on every NBC network". Awful Announcing. May 13, 2018. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  22. ^ "NBC Sports and U.S. Figure Skating Announce 2021–22 Television Schedule". U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  23. ^ E! emphasizes social presence and tablet friendliness at upfront, The Lost Remote, May 1, 2012. Archived May 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ Gaviola, Gilbert (October 31, 1994). "A good showing, a strong following, a bright future". Manila Standard. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  25. ^ Vanzi, Sol Jose. "RMN Joint Venture for E! Philippines". PHNO: Showbiz Center. Philippine Headline News Online. Retrieved September 13, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ The launch of E! Entertainment Television in the Philippines Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine PEP.ph. Retrieved June 7, 2011.

External links

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