How to Pick Up Women

Cable World,  August 25, 2003  

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Byline: SHIRLEY BRADY

Freud spent his career trying - in vain - to figure out what women want.

Nowadays, the answer to that question could prove pretty simple: Get over the battle for the remote control by giving women their own digital video recording system plus uninterrupted time to enjoy their own virtual television network packed with their favorite shows and movies.

Of course, they also want (and deserve) equal-if-not-better pay, unlimited opportunities and the freedom to do whatever they damn well please. But relaxing with great entertainment is at least something to look forward to at the end of a crazy day.

Thanks to women-oriented networks and a wealth of female-savvy programming across cable, women can find something worth watching pretty much anytime they please. Still, figuring out what they want to watch is no easy task. Just ask Barbara Fisher, EVP of programming for Lifetime, who grapples with Freud's conundrum every waking minute of her day.

"You can't pigeonhole women's programming," she says. "You need a wide range and a healthy mix, because women like a mix of things. You can't say 'women like this but they don't like that.' They like different tones, they like mysteries, they like humor, they like scary stuff - there's no rule book."

Women viewers' refusal to be pigeonholed may be a key factor in the struggles of televised women's sports. The WNBA basketball league and the WUSA soccer league have failed to get women to support them either in person or on television, leading to renewed rumors of impending doom.

The trick in winning women viewers, as TV's first women-targeted network learned through nearly two decades in business, is to not try to be all things to all women. Lifetime's goal is to stay on-brand and win viewers' trust so they remain loyal.

"More networks are going after women than ever before," Fisher notes. "Broadcast networks have been targeting women for some time now, and there are more female-centric dramas on other networks. But we believe we have a sure, steady consistency in our audience. So even if our audiences are sampling other things, they do tend to come back to us or at the very least they do want to know what we're doing. And it's up to us to give them something worth watching."

Lifetime's strategy to attract women to a new night appears to be paying off. The Aug. 2 premieres of its new Saturday night block of original one-hour dramas, 1-800-MISSING and Wild Card, attracted nearly 15 million viewers.

1-800-MISSING, based on a series of best-selling novels and starring former ER star Gloria Reuben, did particularly well. Its debut was the most-watched premiere in the network's history (Wild Card is third on that list) and the most-watched basic cable drama premiere this year for women 18 and older. Stunt casting of Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox as Reuben's romantic interest for a five-episode story arc should keep them coming back.

Opening up a new night became a necessity when Lifetime's Sunday night dramas began slipping in the ratings more than a year ago, with women jumping ship to such shows as Sex and the City on HBO. Research showed that women were underserved in prime time on Saturdays, so armed with an $800 million programming budget to see her over the next couple of years, Fisher tapped her two new procedural crime dramas from a shortlist of pilots she revealed at the network's upfront this past spring.

"We were looking for new areas, new franchises and new types of characters," Fisher says. "Everything we do that seems to do well deals with relationships and has some sort of emotional quotient. That's what seems to resonate with women."

Armed with a new tag line - "Live, Love, Laugh" - WE: Women's Entertainment has been engaging women this summer with new series such as its Summer of Style specials, the She House Cinema block on Friday nights (a build-your-dream-home promotion that wraps up next month) and new episodes of its original unscripted dating show Single in the City.

The network is on a roll, despite recently revealed accounting scandals and executive dismissals - including its top executive, AMC Networks president Kate McEnroe. Since rebranding from Romance Classics in January 2001, WE has doubled its subscriber base and is now in 52 million homes; it's also gone from a single advertiser (Johnson & Johnson) to more than 85.

It plans to keep that momentum going this fall with programming highlights including the return of its popular biography series, When I Was a Girl, running Sundays in September with profiles of stars such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Ashanti and Tori Amos. Its new season kicks off Sept. 7 with a tribute to Casa de Los Babys, from sister company IFC Films, featuring stars from the film such as Marcia Gay Harden and Rita Moreno, followed by a behind-the-scenes look at the film's production.

Starting Oct. 22, WE adds a Wednesday night block of originals with three new shows, designed to appeal to its target demo of women 25 to 54, says the network's VP of program planning Elizabeth Doree.