Oxygen (TV channel)

Oxygen
Launched February 2, 2000 (2000-02-02)
Owned by NBCUniversal
(Comcast)
Picture format
Slogan The New Network for Crime
Country United States
Language English
Headquarters New York City, New York, United States
Sister channel(s)
Website www.oxygen.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV 251 (HD/SD)
Dish Network 127 (SD only)
Cable
Cox 165 (SD only)
Available in most service providers Check local listings for channels
IPTV
AT&T U-verse
  • 1368 (HD)
  • 368 (SD)
Verizon FiOS
  • 644 (HD)
  • 144 (SD)
Streaming media
Sling TV Internet Protocol television
PlayStation Vue Internet Protocol television
DirecTV Now Internet Protocol television

Oxygen is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the NBCUniversal Cable division of NBCUniversal, all owned by Comcast. The channel primarily airs true crime programming targeted towards women.

The network was originally founded by Geraldine Laybourne, and carried a format focused on lifestyle and entertainment programming oriented towards women, similar to competing channels such as Lifetime. NBC Universal acquired the network in 2007; under NBC ownership, the network increasingly produced reality shows aimed at the demographic, and re-launched in 2014 to target a "modern", younger female audience. After the network experienced ratings successes with a programming block dedicated to such programming, Oxygen re-launched in mid-2017 to focus primarily on true crime programs.

As of February 2015, approximately 77.5 million American households (66.5% of households with television) receive Oxygen.[1] Under its current format, the network primarily competes with Investigation Discovery.[2]

History

The privately held company Oxygen Media was founded in 1998 by former Nickelodeon executive Geraldine Laybourne, talk show host Oprah Winfrey, and producers Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach (of Carsey-Werner fame). Laybourne was the service's founder, chairwoman, and CEO, staying with the channel until the NBCUniversal sale. The company's cable network Oxygen launched on February 2, 2000.

The channel was initially headquartered at Battery Park City in New York City, near the World Trade Center. It was knocked off the air on September 11, 2001; the Time Warner Cable-owned regional news channel NY1 was broadcast to all Oxygen subscribers across the country until the studio reopened within a week after the attack.[3]

The network's operations were subsequently consolidated in the Chelsea Market, a former Nabisco factory at 15th Street and Ninth Avenue in New York City. Oxygen's operations are now based at 30 Rockefeller Plaza as part of Comcast's consolidation of its newly owned NBC Universal properties.

The channel originally began as an interactive service focusing on original programming with some reruns (such as Kate & Allie), and featured a black bar at the bottom of the screen (referred to as "the stripe", occupying the bottom 12% of the screen) which would show various information (the interactive part involved the channel's website); the technique was cloned by Spike's precursor The New TNN; the stripe was eventually dropped. Prior to 2005, the channel carried a limited schedule of regular season WNBA games produced by NBA TV. The channel later began to focus chiefly on reality shows, reruns, and movies. For a time during the talk show's syndication run, Oxygen aired week-delayed repeats of The Tyra Banks Show. The yoga/meditation/exercise program Inhale was the last inaugural Oxygen program on air into the channel's NBC Universal era, albeit in repeats; it was canceled in 2010.

Campus Ladies, Bliss, Oprah After the Show, Talk Sex with Sue Johanson, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, Snapped, Girls Behaving Badly and Bad Girls Club, a reality series, are some of the signature shows on the channel. Oxygen has been available on DirecTV for many years, and arrived on Dish Network in early 2006 during that provider's carriage conflict with Lifetime.

Acquisition by NBC Universal

On October 9, 2007, NBC Universal announced it would be purchasing Oxygen for $925 million.[4] The sale was completed on November 20, 2007. NBC Universal's cable division announced at an industry upfront presentation on April 23, 2008, that the channel would rebrand and unveil a new logo on June 17, 2008;[5][6] in the months since the sale the Oh! heading was dropped from the channel's visual branding. The logo premiered one week early on June 8, 2008.

For the 2008 Summer Olympics, Oxygen aired events and programming weeknights relating to gymnastics, equestrian, and synchronized swimming through NBC's Olympic broadcasts. On June 29, 2009, Oxygen premiered Dance Your Ass Off, a reality dance competition program in which overweight people dance while they lose weight; the program was cancelled after its second season due to low ratings. On April 5, 2010, Oxygen launched its second night of original programming with the fifth-season premiere of Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.

Following the acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast and the last-minute replacement of its cable channel Style Network with Esquire Network (which was originally intended to replace G4) on September 23, 2013, some of its acquired programs were dispersed to Oxygen.[7]

Oyxgen logo (2014–2017)

In April 2014, as part of a gradual re-focusing of NBC's women's cable networks by new division head Bonnie Hammer, and the appointment of Frances Berwick as the head of Oxygen and sister network Bravo, it was revealed that Oxygen would undergo a shift in its programming strategy to focus on a "modern", young female audience. Berwick explained that the new slate, which included upcoming series such as Fix My Choir, Funny Girls, Nail'd It, Sisterhood of Hip Hop, Street Art Throwdown, and planned spin-offs of Preachers of L.A., would "deliver on the freshness, authenticity, high emotional stakes and optimism that this demographic is looking for", and that many of the new programs would "appeal to things that are important in the lives of young, millennial women" and be "authentic".[8][9] As part of the re-focusing, the network also introduced a new slogan, "Very Real".[9]

2017: Re-focus on true crime

In December 2016, it was reported that NBCUniversal was considering re-formatting Oxygen as a true crime-oriented channel, building upon the ratings gains the network had achieved via its Crime Time programming block.[10] It was reported that NBC had been in talks with Dick Wolf—producer of the Law and Order and Chicago franchises, to take an equity stake in a re-branded channel that could be anchored by the programs.[11][12]

In February 2017, NBCUniversal confirmed that it planned to re-format Oxygen with a focus on true crime programming aimed towards women, including a new season of the Dick Wolf-produced Cold Justice (which had been cancelled by TNT). The change was accompanied by a larger re-branding later in the year, with a new logo featuring the Oxygen name rendered in the style of yellow police tape.[13][14] NBCUniversal Lifestyle Networks president Frances Berwick stated that the network had not determined the fate of the network's non-crime programming, such as Bad Girls Club, after the full re-branding takes effect. Oxygen's new lineup will be built largely around its existing library of unscripted crime-oriented programming (such as Snapped and its various spin-offs); Berwick explained that NBC had not yet ruled out adding off-network reruns of police procedurals to the new schedule as well.[15][16][10]

During its upfront presentations, Oxygen unveiled other new crime programs for the upcoming season, such as Dick Wolf's Criminal Confessions, Soledad O’Brien's Mysteries and Scandals, Ice Cold Murders (which will be hosted and executive produced by Ice-T), and a docuseries on the murder of Jessica Chambers co-produced with NBCUniversal-funded BuzzFeed. The network also announced Retried, a new series in development by former HLN anchor Nancy Grace, and Kept Alive.[14]

Programming

Current

Recent

Upcoming programming

Past

Syndicated

Oxygen HD

Oxygen HD was launched in March 2011 as high definition simulcast feed, eventually becoming the main feed with the standard definition feed being originated at the cable provider headend through downscaling. It is available through most providers.[22]

References

  1. ↑ Seidman, Robert (February 22, 2015). "List of how many homes each cable network is in as of February 2015". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Oxygen Channel Is Becoming A True-Crime, All The Time Network". HuffPost. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  3. ↑ Oxygen Media Transmits New York One Signal to Its National Subscribers - New York Business Wire - September 13, 2001
  4. ↑ Michael Learmonth (October 10, 2007). "NBC U Sucks in Oxygen". Daily Variety. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Show Tracker". The Los Angeles Times. April 23, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Oxygen rebrand caters to 'Generation O'". Archived from the original on April 24, 2008.
  7. ↑ Rose, Lacey (September 9, 2013). "NBCU Switch-Up: Esquire Network to Take Over Style, Not G4 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Goldberg, Lesley (April 8, 2014). "Oxygen Orders Seven New Series, Sets Network Rebranding". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Oxygen Adds Five Series Ahead of Rebrand, Including Kardashian Minister Docuseries (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  10. 1 2 Goldberg, Lesley (February 1, 2017). "Oxygen Officially Rebranding as Crime-Focused Network". The Hollywood Reporter. United States. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  11. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (December 12, 2016). "Oxygen Eyes Crime-Themed Makeover". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  12. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (December 12, 2016). "NBCUniversal, Dick Wolf in Talks to Transform Oxygen Into Crime-Centric Channel (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Oxygen Expands Crime Programming Slate With Projects From Ice-T, Nancy Grace & More". Deadline. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stanhope, Kate (May 10, 2017). "Oxygen Teams With Dick Wolf, Nancy Grace, Ice-T for Crime-Centered Slate". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  15. ↑ Umstead, Thomas (February 1, 2017). "Oxygen to Rebrand as A True Crime Channel". MultiChannel News. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  16. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (February 1, 2017). "Oxygen Surrenders to Crime Wave in Programming Strategy Revamp". Variety. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  17. ↑ Bibel, Sara (February 20, 2013). "New True Crime Series 'Snapped: Killer Couples' to Premiere Sunday, March 10 on Oxygen". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  18. ↑ Yohannes, Alamin (August 9, 2016). "Oxygen's Trans Reality Show 'Strut' to Debut in September". NBC News. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  19. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (May 10, 2017). "New True Crime Series 'Snapped: Killer Couples' to Premiere Sunday, March 10 on Oxygen". Deadline. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  20. ↑ Kondology, Amanda (February 28, 2013). "Oxygen Premieres 'Find Me My Man' April 2 at 9PM". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  21. 1 2 Bibel, Sara (January 7, 2013). "Oxygen Picks Up 'Fat Girl Revenge,' 'Find Me My Man,' & 'Too Young To Marry?'". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  22. ↑ http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/about/inthenewsdetails.ashx?PRID=3166&MarketID=50
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