Highly pumped Oxygen in last-minute race for distribution

'We’re in conversations with cable providers around the country. We’re on target for our goal of distribution to 10 million viewers at launch.'

Highly pumped Oxygen in
last-minute race for distribution

Major markets not signed, including New York

By Jeff Bercovici

     You’ve seen the ads; now will you get to see the programming?
    With just three weeks to go before the debut of its national women’s cable channel, Oxygen Media is still struggling to secure distribution in many major media markets, including New York City.
    Oxygen is in talks with both Time Warner and RCN to provide service to New York, says a company spokeswoman. But if they fail to cut a deal before the Feb. 2 launch date, the irreverent "Another Great Reason to Be a Woman" campaign won’t do much good for New York viewership.
   Things remain fluid elsewhere as well, which is to say there's much intense talking but apparently few solid deals.
     "We’re in conversations with cable providers around the country," the spokeswoman told Media Life, but she declined to name any markets that were signed.
     Oxygen has deals with cable operators AT&T TCI, Media One, Charter Communications and Insight Communications, but none is committed to carrying the network in all of its cities. And just which cities get distribution may not be worked out until the last minute.
      Still, Oxygen remains confident it will pull off a major launch. "We’re on target for our goal of distribution to 10 million viewers at launch," says the spokesperson, and she contends that number will double after a year.
       For all the hoopla over the Oxygen launch, led by Nickelodeon mastermind Geraldine Laybourne, the network has had a surprisingly tough time selling the idea of another woman's cable channel to compete against Lifetime to the cable industry.
   A month ago, Laybourne complained to USA Today that getting picked up has been "a real challenge." There have been some suggestions that at least some of the resistance stems from the industry's dominance by males. The cable industry is notoriously testosterone-driven.
    In spite of its distribution woes, though, Oxygen is moving ahead with the launch.
    It recently added four new web sites to the Oxygen.com network: WeSweat.com, a companion site to the We Sweat sports programming block that will be featured on the cable channel; Picky.com, a style site; WomensHands.com, an arts and crafts site that will offer e-commerce options; and Trackers.com, a trends site for teens, which will also be attached to a programming block.
    The network already includes health site ThriveOnline.com, parenting site MomsOnline.com, careers and finance site ka-Ching.com, consumer reviews site GirlsOn.com, and Oprah.com.
    Oprah Winfrey, who is a partner in Oxygen Media, will also lend her name as well as her presence to "Oprah Goes Online," one of the new batch of shows Oxygen unveiled at the Western Cable Show last month. It will air Sundays at 8 p.m.
    Other offerings will include an animated show called "X-Chromosome," a Candice Bergen-hosted nightly talk show, and an early-morning yoga workout program.
     Of course, in this season of game show excess, Oxygen will have its own entries into the category, including a remake of "I’ve Got a Secret."
    In addition to Winfrey, other backers of Oxygen Media include TV producers Tom Werner and Marcy Carsey, America Online, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures.

-Jeff Bercovici is s staff writer for Media Life.