Networks love life in spin-off city: magazines, books, toys, even housewares extend programmers brands.(cable programmers seek to expand their brands with retail products)

Multichannel News, August, 2003 by Forkan, Jim

A number of cable programmers, having secured channel space and a place in the hearts of viewers, are bent on expanding their brands' presence onto retail shelves. Virtually every network has a Web site and many also have spawned spin-off networks, from A&E Television Networks' The Biography Channel to Lifetime Television's Lifetime Real Women.

Many also are getting off-channel exposure on store shelves via scores of consumer products, from magazines to toys. MORE AD ASSETS Looked at from another angle, these networks also are using some of these offspring outlets as a way to expand their portfolios of cross-platform assets for advertisers. ABC Cable Networks Group executive vice president of worldwide brand strategy Eleo Hensleigh...