Logo

Getting Ahead With Style

Apr 26, 2009  •  Post A Comment

To Salaam Coleman Smith, president of the Style Network, putting together a schedule is a lot like putting together a great outfit.
“You kind of do the high-low. Mixing high-end designer shoes with a fabulous outfit from Target, you can really put together a great outfit,” Ms. Smith said.
Similarly, for a developing network like Style, which programs about 90% original shows, “Our programming schedule is a blend of shows that are on the higher end of the cost range, and some shows that are more cost-effective and affordable,” she said.
There’s also a mix of the new and the old.
New is “Giuliana & Bill,” featuring Giuliana and Bill Rancic. She’s an anchor on Style’s big-sister network E! in Los Angeles, he’s the former “Apprentice” winner based in Chicago. Their 2007 wedding was shown in a popular Style special, leading the network to eye the couple’s long-distance marriage for a series.
“For her, there’s a lot of fish-out-of-water moments because she’s new to being a wife. She didn’t know how to cook,” Ms. Smith says. “She’s very much a modern woman in that she’s been a career girl for a very long time. That’s a shift that a lot of women go through.”
The network also will be launching “Mothers and Daughters of Dallas” (working title) this fall, focusing on an exclusive, upscale community.
“We hope that viewers at home will see something that … reminds [them] of a relationship that they’ve had with their mother or daughter,” Ms. Smith said.
Style has renewed eight series, including “Ruby,” featuring Ruby Gettinger, who lost more than 100 pounds during season one.
Other renewed shows include “The Dish,” “How Do I Look?,” “Split Ends,” “Clean House,” “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway,” “Clean House Comes Clean” and “Dress My Nest.”
The renewals indicate that Style has a high batting average in developing shows that resonate with its viewers, Ms. Smith said. Several series are nearing their 100th episode, she said.
Ms. Smith said parent company Comcast is investing in the Style Network and increasing its programming budget.
“We’re kind of a recession-proof brand, because women always want to look good and women always want to feel good,” she said. “They may want to do it at a cheaper price point, but they always want to look and feel good.”
Going into the upfront, Style is launching a new slogan: “Before Meets After.”
“We are the home of makeovers, we are about transformation, we are about the before and the after,” Ms. Smith said. “We always like to say that everyone has an after in them, and so our job is to give people the tips and the stories and the inspiration and the fun and the humor and celebrate the journey that we’re all on to transform ourselves and reach our greatest potential.”
Style, the No. 60-ranked basic cable network among total viewers in primetime, lured its biggest audience ever in the first quarter, up 5% from a year ago. The network focuses on young female viewers, particularly upscale women. In the knot of networks aiming for young women, Style said its audience has the highest median income.
“There is a lot of advertiser demand for this category and the viewers that we represent because women are key decision makers, and women love style and are predisposed to our category,” Ms. Smith said.

20 Comments

  1. Innovative site. Pondering say you decided to ever swap guest articles? I’m building a site on my current preoccupation planning to exchange some articles with decent pages. I checked out your site and you got good quality articles and i believe our site visitors may discover both being of value. Regards!alexandraalice

  2. Thanks for your visiting this http://www.hello-free.com/freebies online Free WebSite.

  3. Couldn’t be more impressed with this website and the great content. Please keep up the good work. Good, informative sites are getting harder and harder to find.

  4. Kudos to you! This is a really good blog here and I love your style of writing. How did you get so good at blogging?

  5. You make blogging look like a walk in the park! I’ve been trying to blog daily but I just cant find writing material.. you’re an inspiration to me and i’m sure many others!

  6. Great wordpress blog here.. It’s hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care and see you soon

  7. I pretty much knew about the majority of of this, but nevertheless, I still think it is informative. Great work!

  8. Solid article. There’s a lot of good info here, though I did want to let you know something – I am running Ubuntu with the up-to-date beta of Firefox, and the design of your blog is kind of bizarre for me. I can read the articles, but the navigation doesn’t function so good.

  9. Th is information really helped me, I’m sharing which has a very few friends.

  10. When I view your RSS feed it just gives me a ton of unformatted html, is a deal on my reader?

  11. Mary Shu has it proper. AOL is redesign is unquestionably on the improper l ist.

  12. This is good info! Where else can if ind out more?? Who runs this joint too? Keep up the good work 🙂

  13. Sweet, finally a put up that fulfills my research. So a lot of folks get th is topic unsuitable. You’re a wonderful thinker.

  14. I believe that AOL is really a very affordable logo, sorry. meredith or new york public library really should are selection ones.

  15. I’ve a new a single for the worst:

  16. You make blogging look like a walk in the park! I’ve been trying to blog daily but I just cant find writing material.. you’re an inspiration to me and i’m sure many others!

  17. I agree your article points. My reading has shown your ideas to be true, then again, I have also read the opposite from other articles like this one. Do you have any thoughts to post more quality articles? I would certainly appreciate it!

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)