E!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the American entertainment television channel and some of its international variants. For its Canadian equivalent, see E! (Canada).
| E! | |
|---|---|
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| Launched | July 31, 1987 (U.S.) December 2, 2002 (Germany) |
| Owned by | Comcast (under Comcast Entertainment Group) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Formerly called | Movie Time (1987-1990) |
| Sister channel(s) | Style Network, G4 |
| Website | EOnline.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV (US) |
Channel 236 |
| Dish Network (US) |
Channel 114 |
| Sky Digital (UK & Ireland) |
Channel 152 |
| Sky Italia (Italy) |
Channel 114 |
| Foxtel Digital (Australia) |
Channel 121 |
| Austar Digital (Australia) |
Channel 121 |
| SKY Network Television (New Zealand) |
Channel 11 |
| DStv (Southern Africa) |
Channel 124 |
| CanalSat (France) |
Channel 25 |
| TrueVisions DSTV (Thailand) |
Channel 33 |
| Astro Nusantara (Indonesia) |
Channel 46 |
| Astro (Malaysia) |
Channel 713 |
| Cyfrowy Polsat (Poland) |
Channel 35 |
| NOVA (Greece) |
Channel 37 |
| Digiturk (Turkey) |
Channel 9 |
| TotalTV (Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia) |
Channel |
| Cable | |
| Available on most cable systems | Check local listings |
E!: Entertainment Television is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite network. From November 2006 onwards, it became wholly owned by Comcast.
Contents |
[edit] History
The network was launched by Larry Namer, Alan Mruvka, Brian Owens, Rick Portin and others, on July 31, 1987 as Movie Time, a low-budget service that aired movie trailers, entertainment news, event coverage, and interviews. Early Movie Time hosts included Greg Kinnear, Paula Abdul, Katie Wagner, and Richard Blade. Three years later, in June 1990, Movie Time was renamed E! Entertainment Television to emphasize its widening coverage of the celebrity-industrial complex, contemporary film, television and music, entertainment awards shows, daily Hollywood news and gossip, and fashion. In November 2006, Comcast bought the Walt Disney Company's 39.5% share of E! for $1.23 billion. E! is available to 88 million subscribers in the U.S. and 600 million homes internationally. E!'s sister networks are the Style Network and G4.
The network has the unusual distinction of showing the technical end credits at the beginning of the program in order to seamlessly transition between shows without losing viewers (most other cable channels and even broadcast networks do this nowadays), meaning there is no commercial break between two shows. Another unusual distinction is that some sponsor tags credit current Broadway shows running in New York City, obviously and subliminally meant only for those viewers.
[edit] Michael Jackson trial
E! reported on Michael Jackson's 2005 trial and acquittal. As no cameras were allowed in the courtroom, E! used the transcripts of the court case and actors to reenact the day's proceedings. The nightly airings of these reenactments attracted high ratings (for a basic cable channel). E! previously did re-enactments for the O.J. Simpson civil trial, and covered the earlier criminal trial live.
[edit] Programming
[edit] Personalities
Award shows and the red carpet events, premieres and E! News have been hosted and are scheduled to have host Heidieh Croce, Jim Croce's daughter and by a variety of personalities. Currently, Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic host award shows and E! News. Ted Casablanca still interviews various celebrities and has The Awful Truth column online while Kristin Dos Santos (neé Veitch) hosts all season premieres and events for television programming along with her online column Watch With Kristin. Marc Malkin provides breaking news and commentary on E! News and various other programs on the network along with his online column "Planet Gossip" and online videoblog of the same name. Previous hosts include Michael Castner on Inside Word, Behind the Scenes, Live From the Red Carpet and Sex On the Riviera, Brooke Burke on Wild On! and Rank, Jules Asner on Revealed with Jules Asner and Alisha Davis with John Burke on E! News. Red carpet events, now called Live From the Red Carpet, have been hosted previously by Joan Rivers (often with daughter Melissa Rivers), Star Jones, Kathy Griffin, and Nicky Hilton.
Other hosts have included Emme on Fashion Emergency, Suzanne Sena on Celebrity Homes (now with Kristin Malia) and A.J. Benza on Mysteries and Scandals. Jenny McCarthy and Anna Nicole Smith hosted Party @ the Palms and The Anna Nicole Show respectively.
[edit] Criticism
During the week of Dimebag Darrell Abbott's birthday E! Channel producers contacted Pantera publicist Jane Hoffman to license the video tape of Dimebag's murder and to have permission to reenact it for a show titled 20 Most Horrifying Hollywood Murders.[1] In a letter made public, Hoffman among turning down the request wrote, "I realize there is nothing anyone can do to stop E! from producing garbage like this below, as you've built your audience on the backs of other people's private lives." The letter closes with:
- I ask that you all please take a moment from your busy days and close your eyes. Live out the fantasy of playing your favorite instrument onstage. Your closest friends in the world surround you, either in the band or in your crew. From one side of the stage, a man approaches. Thinking he's a security guy or a drunk fan who's just a bit out a line, you continue to perform. Two seconds later, he lifts his arms, aims a rifle at your brother, your best friend, your buddy and blows his brains out, not three feet from where you are.
- Now imagine it's a few years later and you turn on the TV set. Just in case you may be having at least a five minute respite from that scene that plays over and over in your head, just in case .....you flip through the channels and there it is. Again. Only with some two bit actor who thinks this is his big Hollywood break.[2]
[edit] International
E! has licensed its name and brand identity to regional cable television networks in nearly every country worldwide. This includes an international network that is broadcast from the Netherlands across most of Europe, and joint-venture channels in Israel and throughout Latin America.
In Canada, a locally-owned channel with a similar focus, Star!, bought the rights to most original E! programming when it launched in 1999. When this contract expired in September 2007, the E! library was reassigned to Canwest, which relaunched its secondary over-the-air network, CH, as a Canadian version of E!, combining the American channel's entertainment programming with primetime programming mainly acquired from the major U.S. broadcast networks.
In the Philippines, the network has delayed telecast from the selected programs in U.S. version, the channels are aired on Lifestyle Network and Velvet of SkyCable and ETC Entertainment Central of Solar Entertainment Corporation.
[edit] See also
- List of DirecTV channels
- List of Dish Network channels
- ReelzChannel (has same concept as original Movie Time)
[edit] Online content
- Leslie Gornstein (Answer B!tch)
- Ted Casablanca (The Awful Truth)
- Kristin Dos Santos (Watch with Kristin)
- Marc Malkin (Planet Gossip)
- Cristina Gibson (Hollywood Party Girl)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Wikinews interview with Michael Musto about the art of celebrity journalism
- E! Online
- E! Online International Official Site
- E! - UK TV Listings and Schedules
- E! - Latin America Official Site (In Spanish)
- E! Career Opportunities listed on EntertainmentCareers.Net
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