QVC

QVC
QVC logo
Launched July 1986[1]
Owned by Liberty Interactive
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
480i (SDTV)
Slogan Quality, Value, Convenience
Country United States
Language English
Broadcast area Worldwide
Headquarters West Chester, Pennsylvania
Timeshift service QVC Plus
(U.S.; three-hour delayed feed)[2]
Website QVC.com
Availability
Terrestrial
QVC Over the Air

x.5 on most Ion Television owned-and-operated stations, also on:

Satellite
DirecTV 70, 275 and 317 (HD/SD)
76, 79 and 315 (QVC Plus)
Dish Network 137 (SD only)
255 (QVC Plus)
Cable
Available on many cable systems Check local listings for channels
IPTV
Verizon FiOS 650 (HD)
150 (SD)
AT&T U-Verse 1420 (HD)
420 (SD)
Sky Angel 333
Streaming media
QVC Watch live (US only)
Digital media receiver Roku

QVC (an initialism for "Quality, Value, Convenience") is an American cable, satellite and broadcast television network, and multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping that is owned by Liberty Interactive. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, QVC broadcasts in six countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan, QVC Italy, and QVC/CNR (China) to 235 million households.

History

QVC's former logo used from 1994 until September 16, 2007.

QVC was founded on June 13, 1986 by Joseph Segel. One of the first brands to sign a two-year deal with QVC for its products was Sears. The channel's first live broadcast took place at 7:30 p.m. ET on November 24 of that year, reaching 7.6 million cable television homes; the first item sold was a "Windsor Shower Companion" shower radio, presented by host John Eastman (Bob Bowersox was the first host seen on-screen).[3] The corporation later set a new record for first full-year fiscal sales for a new public company of $112 million.[4]

Initially broadcast live from 7:30 p.m. until midnight ET each weekday and all day on Saturdays and Sundays, the channel extended its live programming to 24 hours in January 1987. QVC acquired its top competitor, the Cable Value Network (CVN), in 1989. The $380 million deal contributed to a loss of $17 million during the next fiscal quarter, and then led to difficulties in the couple of years that followed.[5]

On February 2, 1995, Comcast purchased a majority shareholder stake in QVC, Inc., taking control of the corporation. That year, QVC kicked off the "Quest for America's Best: 50 in 50 Tour," a 50-week nationwide product search. Q2, a separate channel for more upscale shoppers, was founded in 2004 but abandoned in 2006.[6] QVC.com was started in 1996 as iQVC.[7]

In 1998, two former hosts filed a class-action lawsuit against QVC, claiming that they were discriminated against by the shopping channel based on their race. The lawsuit went on to state that QVC refused to allow non-white hosts any permanent daytime/primetime spots, which relegated them to the overnight hours, otherwise known as the "graveyard shift." Because of this, the non-white hosts were paid considerably less than the white hosts.[8][9]

In July 2003, Comcast sold its majority share to Liberty Media. On September 23, 2007, QVC U.S. rebranded itself, changing its logo on-air and online. The rebranding was accompanied by an advertising campaign with the tagline "iQdoU?" ("I shop QVC, do you?") that had preceded the rebrand with billboards in major U.S. cities. The iQdoU? campaign also included a "teaser" website.[10][11]

On September 30, 2010, at 11 p.m., QVC began broadcasting in Italy, both on satellite and through digital terrestrial television. In 2012, QVC partnered with China National Radio to take over operations of its home shopping network and associated internet e-commerce site. Its initial reach was reported to be 35 million households.

In 2013, QVC partnered with Ion Media Networks to bring its programming to broadcast television, through Ion Television. QVC began to be carried as the fifth digital subchannel on most Ion Television owned-and-operated stations beginning on August 5, 2013; due to technical limitations caused by the number of subchannels Ion requires its stations to carry, QVC is carried in a squeezed full-screen 4:3 format and is transmitted in standard definition. The channel is also broadcast on digital subchannels of low-powered television stations in selected areas. The broadcast service is branded as "QVC Over the Air", with an accompanying on-screen bug appearing on the lower right corner of the screen during the network's programming.

On August 22, 2013, QVC launched a timeshift channel called QVC Plus (the first such channel operated by a home shopping network), made available initially on cable provider Bright House Networks and satellite provider DirecTV, which broadcasts the channel's programming on a three-hour tape delay.[2]

High definition

QVC HD logo.

QVC HD is a high definition simulcast feed of QVC, which broadcasts in the 1080i resolution format. QVC became the first shopping network to offer a native high-definition simulcast channel in May 2009. The 4:3 cut for its standard definition feed in this 16:9 presentation is made to the right of the screen rather than on both sides of the 4:3 frame, allowing the network to place its graphics fully to the left and lower portions of the screen to maximize camera presentation space.

Operations

All of QVC's operations (U.S., UK, Germany, Japan, Italy and China) run 24 hours a day, although live programming hours vary between each region.

Headquarters

QVC has its headquarters in West Chester, Pennsylvania by U.S. Route 202.[12][13] The $100 million QVC Studio Park complex, located on an 80-acre (32 ha) plot of land, opened in 1997.[14]

QVC US

QVC Outlet store in Frazer, Pennsylvania

QVC's U.S. operations are based in the Studio Park complex, which houses its corporate headquarters, studio and broadcasting facilities. Studio Park is the former corporate offices of Commodore Business Machines. Call center facilities are located in Chesapeake, Virginia; Port St. Lucie, Florida; and San Antonio, Texas. QVC's distribution centers are situated in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Suffolk, Virginia; Florence, South Carolina; and Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

QVC U.S. also operates a retail store at their Studio Park complex, and a series of five outlet stores in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Frazer, Pennsylvania; Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Mebane, North Carolina.[15] In August, 2001, "QVC @ The Mall" was opened in Bloomington, Minnesota's Mall of America, with live remote broadcasts inaugurating the store.[16] The Mall of America location closed in 2011.

QVC broadcasts live in the United States 24/7 (apart from the Christmas show which is pre-recorded) to more than 100 million households, and ranks as the number two television network in terms of revenue (#1 in home shopping networks), with sales in 2010 giving a net revenue of $7.8 billion.

WCCB-TV 18.4 in Charlotte, North Carolina is the home for QVC.

QVC UK

Main article: QVC (UK)

QVC UK was launched on 1 October 1993. QVC UK's headquarters and broadcasting facilities are located at Marco Polo House in Battersea, London but moved to a new smaller complex in Chiswick Park in late April 2012. Call center and distribution facilities are situated in Knowsley, Merseyside. QVC UK also runs two outlet stores, one in Warrington, the other in Shrewsbury. QVC operates a second channel in the UK, QVC Beauty.

QVC UK broadcasts live 17 hours a day (although the channel runs 24 hours a day), 364 days a year (off-air for one day on Christmas Day).

QVC Germany

Main article: QVC Germany

QVC Germany, incorporated in Düsseldorf, runs call centre operations from two sites in Bochum and Kassel, whilst distribution is handled from a dedicated site in Hückelhoven.

QVC Germany broadcasts live 17 hours a day, 363.5 days a year (the channel goes off-air on Christmas Eve (with no programming after noon) and Christmas Day). QVC has two additional channels in Germany, QVC Plus and QVC Beauty.

QVC Japan

Japan head-office 'QVC-Square'

QVC Japan is based in Makuhari, where its corporate headquarters and call center facility are located. Distribution facilities are located in Sakura City.

QVC Italy

QVC Italy was launched in October 2010.[17] QVC Italy's headquarters and broadcasting facilities are located at Brugherio, near Milan.

QVC Italy broadcasts live 17 hours a day (although the channel runs 24 hours a day), 364 days a year. The primary distribution platforms for QVC Italy are digital terrestrial television and satellite.

QVC France

In the 2nd quarter of 2015 QVC will be launched in France.[18] The company expect to create about 200 jobs in the first two years they will be active in the country. The content will be produced in France by a local team and will be available online, on mobile devices and on major satellite TV, cable TV and IPTV services.

QVC/CNR (China)

QVC/CNR (China) is based in Beijing and operates both a television broadcast and associated e-commerce website cnrmall.com. The China operation is a 51/49 joint venture between state-owned China National Radio and QVC, based on the pre-existing CNR channel reaching 35 million households, with plans to grow to 195 million households that have digital cable. QVC expands in China through joint venture - MarketWatch. Chinese law prohibits private control of television stations, so this is the maximum position QVC can hold in its Chinese operations. QVC/CNR broadcasts live programming 12 hours a day and then replays the previous 12-hour segment.

Notable people

QVC's 2007 iQdoU? ad campaign at Times Square.

QVC's live broadcast is supported by 25 program hosts. They come from a variety of different backgrounds and work one-to four-hour shifts on-air, two to five days a week.

Hosts and models

Product representatives

QVC's hosts are often supported by a product representative for certain products.

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History of QVC Inc. – FundingUniverse". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 QVC Launches Second Linear Channel, Multichannel News, August 23, 2013.
  3. ↑ "QVC's First Broadcast 11/24/86". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  4. ↑ About QVC, About QVC
  5. ↑ "Biography". Home.comcast.net. 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  6. ↑ Rozansky, Michael L. (1996-02-02). "QVC Is Making Plans To Change Its Second Channel: The Channel Had Sought To Appeal To Younger, More Affluent Shoppers; It Failed To Meet That Goal". Philly.com. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  7. ↑ Archive.org, QVC.com on December 22, 1996.
  8. ↑ Sean Sexton. "Lawsuit Alleges Pattern of Racism at QVC - Direct Marketing News". Dmnews.com. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  9. ↑ "QVC official denies any racism A suit contends Jack Comstock treated minorities badly. He told the jury about his criteria for hosts. - Philly.com". Articles.philly.com. 2004-06-07. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  10. ↑ iqdou.com
  11. ↑ "Press Releases - Philadelphia Business Journal". Philadelphia.bizjournals.com. 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  12. ↑ "Directions to QVC Studio Park." QVC. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  13. ↑ "West Goshen township, Chester County, Pennsylvania." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Touring QVC'S Scene Of The Sale \ Entertainment and Retailing Meet in West Goshen Twp." Philadelphia Enquirer. August 17, 1997. D01 Business. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  15. ↑ QVC Retail Stores, QVC Retail Stores
  16. ↑ , QVC Store Opens in Mall of America
  17. ↑ (Italian) QVC in Italia
  18. ↑ QVC expands European presence to France Retrieved April 23, 2014, 2010

External links