Shop at Home Network

Infobox_TV_channel
name= Shop at Home Network
logofile=Shop at Home.png logoalt=
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launch=1987
closed date=March 8, 2008
owner= Jewelry Television
former names =
web= [http://www.shopathometv.com/ www.shopathometv.com]
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|The Shop at Home Network (more commonly known as just Shop at Home, Shop At Home TV, SATH or SAH) was a television network in the United States owned by Jewelry Television. Before its acquisition by Jewelry Television in 2006 [cite web
last =
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coauthors =
title = Company Facts at Shop At Home
work =
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url = http://www.shopathometv.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?help=company
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accessdate = 2008-02-17] , The E. W. Scripps Company owned and operated the network from 2002 until 2006, when the network temporarily ceased operations on June 21. The network primarily focused on home shopping programming, as indicated by the name. During Scripps' ownership, some of its programming was done in conjunction with other Scripps channels (such as Food Network).

History

1987-2006

Originally, Shop at Home was a regional shopping network based in Newport, Tennessee. In the beginning, it was similar in format to larger national rivals QVC and the Home Shopping Network. However, beginning in 1989, the network pioneered the sale of collectible coins and currency. The success of "The Coin Vault" (hosted by Robert Chambers for nearly 20 years) allowed the network to branch out into shows that featured other collectible items during the 1990s, thus setting SAH apart from its peers. Most shopping networks, like QVC and HSN, were primarily targeted at a predominantly female audience, while SAH's collectible-themed shows attracted a mostly male audience.

Popular shows during the 1990s and early 2000s also included "The Knife Collector's Show", co-hosted for most of its run by Shawn Leflar and former SAH personality Tom O'Dell, and the "Sports Collectibles" show, emceed by Don West for a majority of its run. The network also kept an eye on the most popular collectible trends of the late 1990s and early 2000s including shows devoted to Beanie Babies and Pokémon.

During this era, the network's late-night fare developed a cult following due to its hosts' outlandish behavior and loud tone of voice. As a result, the show was parodied several times on "Saturday Night Live" with Will Ferrell playing Don West.

Starting in 2000, it was thought that SAH's collectibles-based format began to wear off in popularity and most of its management was replaced. The new management switched the network to a more traditional shopping channel format, and as a result, replaced many of its old hosts and brought in new personalities, most notably Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse ("The Coin Vault" was retained, and remained successful).

Before the network's temporary suspension, it operated 24 hours a day, but ran some taped programming in addition to live broadcasts.

First closure

E.W. Scripps ceased its operations of Shop at Home on June 21, 2006. The company cited difficulties in competing with the larger QVC and HSN. "Going Out Of Business" proceedings began May 22, 2006, when Shop at Home started their "Huge Blow-Out-Sale". During this sale, many of their regular items were sold at discounted rates, along with some items that weren't presented on Shop at Home before. Special sale conditions were that credit cards were required, and that all sales were final. The sale ended June 2, 2006; however, a "Last-Chance Sale" began exactly a week later on June 9, and lasted until the network's closure. [cite web
date = 2006-06-12
url = http://www.shopathometv.com/
title = FAQs About the Sale
format = FAQ list
work = shopathometv.com
publisher = Shop At Home TV, LLC
language = English
accessdate = 2006-06-14]

Employees at Shop at Home were to receive an additional two weeks pay, severance pay, and, if they remained through the network's closure, three months of benefits, such as insurance. [cite web
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title = Regular Programming Resuming Tomorrow
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url = http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,39341.0.html
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accessdate = 2008-02-17]

Resurrection

As the scheduled final days of Shop at Home approached, Jewelry Television announced it would purchase some assets of the network and maintain 100 unspecified jobs in Nashville under its sale agreement. Scripps detailed the sale at $17 million for fixed assets, and noted that Jewelry Television would also assume existing cable and satellite television carriage agreements. [cite web
last =
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title = Jewelry Television to acquire Shop At Home network assets
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url = http://pressreleases.scripps.com/release/863
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accessdate = 2008-02-17]

On June 23, 2006, Shop at Home TV returned to the air with a limited schedule, once again specializing in the sale of various collectible merchandise ranging from collectible gold, silver and rare coins; popular brand name watches like Tag Heuer & Bulov; to unique knives and autographed sports memorabilia.

The original schedule was 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. Eastern time. Shawn Leflar, Rob Parsons, Kim Stamper Church, Elliot Smith and some other hosts were brought back.

On September 11, 2006, Shop at Home returned to a full 24-hour on air schedule, returning to selling a variety of products.

Second closure

It was announced on January 8, 2008 that Shop at Home would permanently cease its broadcast on March 7, 2008, again citing its failure to successfully compete with QVC, HSN, and ShopNBC. [cite news |title=Shop at Home to Cease Broadcasting |url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5436942.html |work=Associated Press |publisher="Houston Chronicle" |date=2008-01-08 |accessdate=2008-01-08 ]

Before its second closure, several long time hosts returned to the show in a "Reunion Month" throughout the month of February.

A couple of the shows have received new life on other networks. "The Watch Show" and Tim Temple moved to Jewelry Television. Robert Chambers will host a show similar to "The Coin Vault" on ShopNBC.

Shop at Home went off-the-air on March 8, 2008. The website continues to be active, selling coins, knives, sports collectables, and watches (though the latter is branded as part of Jewelry Television rather than Shop at Home).

Television stations

While Shop at Home was primarily a cable and satellite television network, the network also aired on broadcast television stations in the United States. Until Scripps' sale of the network, five of these stations were owned and operated by Shop at Home itself. In September 2006, Scripps agreed to sell the stations to Multicultural Television Broadcasting LLC for $170 million pending FCC approval; [cite web
last =
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title = Scripps sells Shop At Home TV stations
work =
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date =
url = http://pressreleases.scripps.com/release/877
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accessdate = 2008-02-17] they dropped Shop at Home programming soon after Multicultural took over. The five stations are:

*WSAH 43 Bridgeport, Connecticut/New York City
*WMFP 62 Lawrence/Boston, Massachusetts
*KCNS 38 San Francisco, California
*WRAY-TV 30 Wilson/Raleigh, North Carolina
*WOAC 67 Canton/Cleveland, Ohio

Other stations remained affiliated with the Shop at Home Network, and are listed below:

* WYLE Florence/Huntsville, Alabama/Decatur, Alabama
* KSVM-LP Santa Barbara, California/Santa Maria, California/San Luis Obispo, California
* WJJA Racine/Milwaukee
* WJYS Hammond, Indiana/Chicago
* KHON-DT2 Honolulu, Hawaii (late night hours only)

In addition, programming was seen online on the network's website.

Following SAH's first closure, these stations began airing Jewelry Television. Some stations continued to JTV in the late morning and afternoon even after Shop at Home's return to 24-hour programming. WJJA would carry JTV until April 21, when it was purchased by Weigel Broadcasting to carry a classic television format.

References

External links

* [http://www.sathsite.com/ sathsite.com] (Shop at Home-branded site selling coins, sports collectables, and knives)
* [http://www.jtvwatches.com/ JTVWatches.com] (replaced Shop at Home's watch sales)
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmlsqqT8AlQ&NR Infamous stabbing of a SAH demonstrator]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJQ6LeKwHNI Camera demonstrator mistakes photo of butterfly for photo of horse]