E!

E! (Entertainment Television) is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite network. As of 2005, it is owned by a joint venture between Comcast (50%), The Walt Disney Company (40%), and Liberty Media (10%).

About the network

The network was launched by Rick Kaplan, former President of CNN and MSNBC, in 1987 as Movietime, a low-budget service that aired movie trailers and interviews. Three years later, in June of 1990, Movietime 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. E! is available to 80 million subscribers in the U.S. and 400 million homes internationally. E!'s sister channel is the Style Network.

E! has also licensed its name and brand identity to regional cable television networks in Latin America, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. It also has an international network that is broadcast from the United Kingdom. In Asia, the E! brand belongs to STAR TV.

E! is now also broadcast in a Spanish language version in the United States.

The network has the unusual distinction of showing the technical end credits at the beginning of the program in order to save time and advertising money. Another unusual distinction is that some sponsor tags credit current Broadway shows running in New York, obviously and subliminally meant only for those viewers in New York City.

Current original programming

Additionally, it has an evening news broadcast, E! News. The channel also broadcasts classic episodes of Saturday Night Live (Not aired on E! Australia).

Canceled/retired original programming

The Anna Nicole Show
Howard Stern
Love Is in the Heir
The Entertainer starring Wayne Newton
It's Good to Be
Celebrities Uncensored
Star Dates
Love Chain
Revealed with Jules Asner
Talk Soup (however The Soup is a reworked version of this show)
Taradise
Wild On!
Inside Word with Michael Castner

Personalities

Award shows and the red carpet events, premieres and E! News have been hosted by a variety of personalities. Currently, Ryan Seacrest (who is also the host of American Idol) and Giuliana DePandi host award shows and E! News. Ted Casablanca still interviews various celebrities and hosts The Awful Truth while Kristin Veitch hosts all season premieres and events for television programming. Past 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, and even 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. Adult models Jenny McCarthy and Anna Nicole Smith hosted Party @ the Palms and The Anna Nicole Show respectively.

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. E! previously did re-enactments for the O.J. Simpson civil trial, and covered the earlier criminal trial live.

External links

American television networks | Comcast Corporation | 1987 establishments | Walt Disney Company subsidiaries