Psychic Friends Network files for bankruptcy

Jet, Feb 23, 1998

The parent company of The Psychic Friends Network, which was once the No. 1 infomercial on TV, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company, Inphomation Communication Inc., listed liabilities of $26 million and assets of $1.2 million when it filed for Chapter 11, which allows a company to hold off its creditors and continue operating while it put its finances in order.

The infomercial show was hosted by famed songstress Dionne Warwick, who was not connected to the company's bankruptcy in any way.

She recently left the show in order to devote more time to her music career. Ms. Warwick currently is touring and working on a new album titled Dionne Sings Dionne, which will feature new versions of her hits and will be on the River North Records label.

Inphomation had estimated revenues of $100 million to $125 million in the early 1990s.

The company's revenue plunged to $25 million to $30 million in the last two years, said Steve Dworman, publisher of Infomercial Marketing Report. He said competition from all the other psychic shows and management missteps put the company, owned by Baltimore businessman Michael Lasky, deep in the red.