WOMEN WANTED

The King is dead. Now can anyone topple the Queen?

After decades of male domination at the top of the Nielsen ratings, Lifetime Television entered 2001 at the No. 1 spot in primetime cable for two weeks running. Its new series, The Division, was the highest-rated premiere in the network’s history, delivering the largest audience of any basic cable premiere in the past year.

That’s woman power. And like every other leader, wannabe monarchs are gunning for Lifetime.

Lifetime president Carole Black has had to field more questions about rivals to the female network crown than Imelda Marcos had shoes. Shrugging off challengers, the veteran women’s programmer rose from a top-five network slot to the ratings summit during the past year despite a mountain of hype surrounding Oxygen’s launch last February.

After focusing on male viewers since its inception, cable has turned its attention to women, and two of the industry’s highest-profile female executives are making the race to woo the distaff demographic more entertaining than anything they’ve put on the air.

In the outside lane, armed with hundreds of millions of Paul Allen’s dollars, is Geraldine Laybourne, a cable legend who built Nickelodeon. Despite lavish spending on programming, her Oxygen has been gasping with scant distribution and few viewers.

One analysis of Nielsen data showed a handful of people watching the network. Laybourne counters that Nielsen figures are unreliable for networks with fewer than 20 million subscribers.

On the inside is Kate McEnroe’s WE: Women’s Entertainment, the new identity for Romance Classics. Cablevision’s Rainbow Media is repositioning the network from a pure movie play to be slicker and more contemporary.

Right now Black is in the lead, confidently steering down the center of the track.

For Lifetime, owning the niche is rich. The network’s total net revenue was more than $655 million in 2000, up 21% from 1999, say sources.

It’s valuable turf Lifetime is defending like a lioness guarding her cubs, but Black betrays little concern.

"A little competition doesn’t scare us at all. Not only was it inevitable, it’s healthy," says Black. "Our ratings show that we just keep getting better and better. There’s more than enough room for everyone."

Women stick with Lifetime because of the way its brand has been built and reinforced, she adds.

"Every element of what we do must communicate our message, our core values, to all viewers, not just our core audience," she says.

Black says women have grown to trust Lifetime.

"Staying in touch with our audience is why our viewers continue to put their faith in us, and our numbers keep growing," she says. "You might say we’ve been reinvigorated by the challenge. We think the competition has helped us better define who we are and what Lifetime means."

Her talented competitors have a vision that puts Lifetime in their crosshairs.

Laybourne wants to put a dent in Lifetime’s viewership with Oxygen’s original programming.

"We’re building a new voice for women," she says.

"People love our contemporary, optimistic attitude," Laybourne adds. "Lifetime has done amazing stuff; it’s just great that they’re trying new things."

Laybourne downplays the competition between the two networks.

"What sets our programming apart is our sense of humor, and the extremely high percentage of original programming. We’re also really exploring how women use technology, speaking to women’s needs in that area."

McEnroe says her network is changing because she’s noticed how women have changed.

"Women are looking for entertainment that reflects their values. That’s really important. They want a destination on the dial that’s all theirs — not their husband’s or their partner’s — more simplicity in their lives, no demands and a sense of community. Given that criteria, Romance was simply too narrow," she says.

Noting how candle sales are going through the roof and spas are booming, she plans to make WE into "a place to unwind, relax and enjoy. WE will be an oasis for women viewers. At the end of the day, whether working in the home or outside it, we’re all stressed, and we need to be pampered," McEnroe says, referring to WE as a "virtual spa."

"Oxygen is telling women how to live their lives," McEnroe adds. "Our voice is more about evolution, not revolution."

Why the sudden rush to the women’s room?

Broadcasters have targeted the women’s market since the days when soap-makers sponsored daytime dramas. Networks also cater to women in primetime.

When cable came to the fore, it counter-programmed the broadcast networks to appeal to what was then an under-served male market with sports, news, history, action-oriented movie reruns and all manner of televised testosterone.

The quest for female viewers is a new phenomenon for cable, and its roots are green.

"Women’s buying power couldn’t be ignored by cable forever," says Jack Myers, chief economist and CEO of the Myers Group.

"Over the last two or three years, advertisers set their sights on the working woman as most desirable — and most difficult to reach with the erosion of the primetime and daytime audience," he adds. "By serving women viewers, cable operators also service their advertiser base."

What’s the key to attracting women viewers?

"Original programming aimed at women viewers," says Joseph Ostrow, president of the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau.

"Providing specific programming for specific tastes is the cornerstone driving viewers to cable and cable viewers to digital services," he says. "Advertisers are looking to minimize waste by targeting programming that is targeted to their audience."

There is ample room for more than one female-oriented cable service, say industry observers. Just as ESPN doesn’t serve the needs of all male viewers, so too do women deserve a spectrum of programming addressing their experiences.

"For years, Lifetime was the only game in town," says Mike Goodman, a senior analyst at The Yankee Group. "They’ve done a very good job in their original programming and in understanding their audience, but there’s definitely room for multiple channels within a particular niche. Just look at the cable news category."

Gary Farber of SG Cowen says it’s tougher to compete against an established brand. "Lifetime definitely has first mover advantage," he says. "It has a pretty serious base, and now with the digital tier, they’ve been able to extend their brand even more."

Ultimately, cable operators will have a big voice in determining what women can and can’t see.

They’ve proved something of an obstacle for Oxygen, which tried to drive a tough bargain with little but expensive new programming for leverage. Other networks launched with help from high launch fees and low license fees or retransmission consent as leverage, but Oxygen thought its breeding and on-air product could sustain an expensive rate card.

"They didn’t bring a Time Warner, a Viacom or a Fox to the table," says Frank Hughes of the National Cable Television Cooperative, a 900-member coalition of small cable operators. "They didn’t have any other network [running ads] saying, ‘I want my Oxygen!’"

"We have an agreement with Romance Classics, because they’ve been more flexible," he says. "They’ll take analog, digital, whatever. They’re willing to negotiate."

But he hasn’t closed the door on the competition.

"I’ve yet to sign a deal with Lifetime or Oxygen, but I’m close to working it out with Oxygen," Hughes says.

In the long run, operators can’t afford not to have women’s channels in their lineups, McEnroe says.

"How can you ignore the constituency that’s paying your bill, who writes the monthly checks? It’s all about economics, and who’s got the buying power," she says.

In the face of competition, Lifetime’s results have been impressive, breaking its ratings records in the last year and ending 2000 on a high not just for the network but for basic cable services.

Tim Brooks, Lifetime’s SVP-research, says the network not only leads the women’s cable category as the top network for women 18 to 49 in primetime, but is tied with TBS and Cartoon Network for No. 2 (after Nickelodeon) for total day ratings.

"Increased competition is not impacting Lifetime’s growth in the least," says Myers. "If anything, their brand awareness is increasing, just as a rising tide raises all ships."

"This didn’t just happen overnight," says Brooks. "It’s the culmination of years of building the Lifetime brand. But it all came together this past year. We’ve simply stuck to our knitting, giving viewers the kind of top-quality, original programming they’ve come to expect from us."

"Even so, our viewers are certainly open to changes," he continues. "The network has developed over the years into what has become a powerhouse brand. But brands are more than just for women or just for kids or news junkies or whatever. They have to have texture and flavor beyond that. What’s really amazing is our audience’s loyalty, how much they really care about the network. If Lifetime came down with a cold, our viewers would send in chicken soup."

Lifetime experience

Lifetime has come a long way since its early days of medical programming and stockpile of women-in-distress movies.

"Lifetime has built a brand where in viewers’ minds it is television for women," says Carole Thomas, a Chicago-based media-buying consultant. "For a long time, its Sundays were all medical programming and it relied on a stable of male-bashing movies."

Under its former president, Douglas McCormick, the network did move into original programming, with films and a Tuesday night lineup of original series.

When Lifetime’s parents, ABC and Hearst, decided the network needed a woman at the helm, its board squeezed out McCormick and brought in Black in March 1999. Since then, she has cleaned house and increased the network’s commitment to original series such as Any Day Now, Strong Medicine and The Division.

Modernizing and strengthening the Lifetime brand has been Black’s top priority. The former GM of GE-owned KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, Black honed her positioning and marketing savvy as a brand manager at Procter & Gamble.

She has also stepped up the network’s marketing efforts, bringing Rick Haskins on board in August 1999 to oversee campaigns such as "Experience of a Lifetime," an interactive exhibit that will tour this year.

The network is increasing cross-promotional efforts, expanding into publishing with Love Letters of a Lifetime, a companion book to Lifetime’s Weddings of a Lifetime series, being published this month by Disney-owned Hyperion.

Black points to original programming, which is overseen by EVP-entertainment Dawn Tarnofsky-Ostroff, as the heart and soul of communicating its vision and commitment to viewers. It’s also been cleaning up in the ratings.

Since launching last July Strong Medicine, a medical drama starring Janine Turner and Rosa Blasi, has become the No. 1 rated original dramatic series in basic cable, ending the year with a 1.9 rating.

Lifetime also produces the No. 2-rated original dramatic series on basic cable, Any Day Now. Now in its third season, the award-winning drama exploring racial issues through two women’s life-long friendship ended last year with a 1.8 rating.

Lifetime’s latest series, The Division, launched this month with the highest-rated original series premiere in the network’s history. While TV critics were less than kind to the new Sunday night show ("The Division suffers from a paint-by-numbers blandness," said Variety’s Steven Oxman of the opener), viewers didn’t seem to care.

The hour-long police drama starring Bonnie Bedelia, Nancy McKeon and Lela Rochon Fuqua nabbed a 3.1 rating for its Jan. 7 debut and a 3.0 on Jan. 14, helping make Lifetime the top-rated cable network in primetime for the first two weeks of 2001.

Its daytime flagship, the informational program Lifetime Live, which debuted last March, was joined in June by the game show Who Knows You Best? and the lifestyle series Operation Style, which debuted last month.

Lifetime’s new shows this year include an NBA Entertainment-produced weekly WNBA highlights show scheduled to air Friday nights beginning in May — even though Lifetime will not air any WNBA games for the 2001 season. ESPN2 is picking up the games Lifetime aired for the past four seasons.

The network aims to be the leading creator of made-for-TV movies aimed at women, a category in which it faces stiff competition from Showtime and HBO.

Ratings for Lifetime’s original movies increased 17% in households last year over 1999 figures, according to Brooks. The Truth About Jane, the Stockard Channing-starring film, captured 3.6 million households and was last summer’s highest-rated movie on basic cable.

Lifetime plans to air 12 original movies this year. Its 2001 lineup of original features launches this week with What Makes A Family, a Barbra Streisand-executive produced film starring Brooke Shields as a lesbian battling her partner’s family for custody of her child. The movie will be followed by the first of the network’s new roster of original documentaries, All Kinds of Families, which is narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Brooks adds that the network increased by 10% in households for total day and 6% in primetime last year. It swept through November, landing a 1.6 in primetime (a 7% increase from a year earlier) and a 1.1 total day household rating up 10% from 1999.

The network is also pushing hard on offshoot Lifetime Movie Network, which is now available in 11.6 million homes.

Breathing hard

It’s been a tough climb for Oxygen.

Laybourne made headlines with the October 1998 announcement that her fledgling convergence company had signed up Hollywood production powerhouse Carsey Werner and talk doyenne Oprah Winfrey as financial backers and creative contributors — not to mention the deep pocketed Paul Allen as an angel investor.

Since officially launching Oxygen.com and the Oxygen TV network last February, her labor of love has been laboring to find distribution on basic cable.

Laybourne says they have commitments to be in 32 million homes by the end of 2002.

It is now carried on AT&T, Charter, Cox and Insight cable systems and DirecTV. Its carriage on overbuilder RCN brings it into New York City area homes, while its rollout on Adelphia cable systems in the first quarter of this year brings it into Los Angeles, Buffalo, Cleveland and Miami.

Oxygen’s problems are partly due to the difficulties in launching an analog channel on the already crowded basic cable tier.

They’re also due to playing hardball with the cable industry by offering little in the way of launch incentives and insisting on analog-only carriage at a relatively steep license fee of around 19 cents per subscriber, according to industry sources.

As a result, many operators balked at the pricey proposition. Now seen in 12 million homes, it is still too minuscule to be surveyed accurately for ratings and too low to be a top priority for media buyers.

Following a lackluster TV launch, its Web strategy deflated in tandem with the dot-com sector. Receiving an additional infusion of $100 million from Allen, Oxygen last month scaled back its Internet presence from a dozen to four key Web sites, and laid off 65 workers, or 10% of its workforce.

Laybourne defends the amount of money — an estimated $400 million over four years — allocated to original programming.

"We launched with 15 original shows, which is a pretty amazing amount," she says.

The network’s signature shows include Exhale, Candice Bergen’s interview talk show; As She Sees It and Who Does She Think She Is?; Pajama Party; Pure Oxygen, a live daily informational block; SheCommerce; Daily Remix, a nightly music show; and Trackers, a teen-oriented series which last month launched Virtual Trackers, a streaming video feed from a dedicated camera to Oxygen.com.

Oxygen also commissions animated series such as Avenue Amy and has committed to air episodes from the Carsey Werner series Dot Comedy, a co-production which was cancelled after one episode on ABC. A new fly-on-the-wall documentary strand launches this year with Lady Cop, a special shot entirely with small format DV cameras.

Rekindling romance

Rainbow Media’s Romance Classics network has slowly been evolving during the past year.

Among the original series which McEnroe has been rolling out in advance of Romance Classics’ official re-launch as WE on April 1 are Cool Women, a biography series focusing on "ordinary women doing extraordinary things" produced by Debbie Allen; Journey Women Off the Map, a reality-based adventure travel series; and Everyday Elegance, a lifestyle series "which is the opposite of Martha Stewart," says McEnroe.

Despite the range of women-focused content to be found on cable today, not everyone is convinced of the need for women-targeted networks — including many women.

"I’m not into excluding people with my programming," says Helen Whelan, a cofounder of Myprimetime.com, an interactive Web site with a television production arm. "Nobody’s focusing on men because it’s assumed that television already serves their needs. There are a lot of men out there who want inspirational content, too. It’s not just women — everyone wants to learns about improving their lives."

"Everyone is busy today, and there’s never enough time," counters McEnroe. "We’re helping viewers make choices by providing more choices. The key is not to be afraid to make mistakes. The real mistake is not even trying."

The key for all the women’s networks is to identify their core audience’s needs, says The Yankee Group’s Goodman.

"Figure out what makes your network special," he advises the women’s cablers. "And then deliver on it."