LMN (TV channel)

{{Short description|American pay TV network owned by A&E Networks}}

{{Infobox television channel

| name = LMN

| logo = File:LMN logo 2019.svg

| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1998|6|29}}

| picture_format = 1080i HDTV
(downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)

| owner = A&E Networks

| parent = Lifetime Entertainment Services

| country = United States

| language = English

| area = Nationwide

| headquarters = New York, New York

| former_names = Lifetime Movie Network (1998–2006, 2008–2011)
Lifetime Movies (2017–2019)

| sister_channels = {{Plainlist|

}}

| website = {{URL|http://www.mylifetime.com/lifetime-movies}}

| online_serv_1 = Service(s)

| online_chan_1 = Frndly TV, Hulu + Live TV, Philo, Sling TV

}}

LMN, an initialism for the Lifetime Movie Network, also known as Lifetime Movies,{{cite web|url=https://www.aenetworks.com/article/historyr-launches-ukraine-and-increases-distribution-russia |title=A+E Networks – Life is Entertaining |publisher=Aenetworks.com |access-date=2014-05-26}} is an American pay television network launched on June 29, 1998 and owned by the Lifetime Entertainment Services subsidiary of A&E Networks, a joint venture between the Disney Entertainment division of The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications.{{cite news| title= About Lifetime| work= Lifetime| date=April 10, 2010|url=http://www.mylifetime.com/about-us/about-lifetime| access-date=April 10, 2010}} LMN is one of the three flagship networks of LES, alongside namesake Lifetime and LRW.

LMN carries movies and exclusive shows aimed at women, especially made for television movies. Many, though not all, of the movies that air on the network are Lifetime originals that were first shown on the flagship Lifetime channel; in turn, the network also premieres original films that are later broadcast on Lifetime. Until they ended their involvement in television films in the early 2000s, the network's earliest programming consisted of movies originally meant for broadcast networks.

{{As of|2023|11}}, LMN is available to approximately 47,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2013 peak of 85,000,000 households.{{cite web|url=https://wrestlenomics.com/u-s-cable-network-households-universe-1990-2023-nielsen-data/|title=U.S. cable network households (universe), 1990 – 2023|website=wrestlenomics.com|date=May 14, 2024|access-date=July 28, 2019}} An Australian version of the channel launched on September 1, 2020 through Foxtel, a subsidiary of News Corp.{{cite web|url=https://mumbrella.com.au/foxtel-launches-lifetime-movie-network-637188|title=Foxtel launches Lifetime Movie Network|publisher=Mumbrella|date=August 4, 2020|access-date=August 4, 2020}}

History

The network launched on June 29, 1998, as Lifetime Movie Network, a digital cable and direct broadcast satellite extension of its main network.[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/lifetime-entertainment-services-history/ Lifetime Entertainment Services History]. International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 32. St. James Press, 2000. Hosted on Funding Universe.com. Retrieved on December 4, 2013. Variety praised the move as "capitalizing on the expected channel boom from TV's conversion to digital distribution over the next few years."[https://variety.com/1997/tv/news/new-lifetime-channel-to-center-on-made-fors-1116676360/ "New Lifetime Channel to Center on Made-Fors]." Variety, November 24, 1997. Retrieved July 7, 2013. However, it only reached 3 million of the 70 million pay-television subscribers in the U.S. at the time.Katz, Richard. [https://variety.com/1999/more/news/lifetime-exec-exodus-1117744021/ "Lifetime Exec Exodus."] Variety, July 21, 1999. Retrieved July 7, 2013.

The original format of the network consisted of longer blocks of made-for-television movies with limited commercial interruptions, airing twice a day. As the network grew and broadcast networks ceased producing made-for-TV movies, more commercial breaks were added during its film content. The network also added theatrical film releases to its schedule. The network airs different movies each day, although the movies aired at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. ET each day are re-aired at 12:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. (9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. PT).

On April 19, 2009, the broadcast of Natalee Holloway attracted 3.2 million viewers for the network, more than 1 million of which were among the demographic of women aged 18–49, garnering the highest ratings in the network's history at that time.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2009/scene/markets-festivals/lifetime-movie-scores-with-holloway-1118002635/|title=Lifetime Movie scores with 'Holloway|date=April 20, 2009|last=Kissel|first=Rick|work=Variety}} On August 27, 2009, A+E Networks acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services, which was jointly owned by the former's corporate parents The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Corporation in conjunction with NBCUniversal (which sold its interest to the two other companies in 2011).{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2009/scene/markets-festivals/a-e-acquires-lifetime-1118007820/|title=A&E Acquires Lifetime|last=Schneider|first=Michael|work=Variety|date=August 27, 2009|access-date=August 27, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224050810/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007820|archive-date=February 24, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/329151-A_E_Networks_Lifetime_Merger_Completed.php|title=A&E Networks, Lifetime Merger Completed|last=Atkinson|first=Claire|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=August 27, 2009|access-date=August 27, 2017}}

On October 13, 2013, the network debuted its first original series, the reality-based murder mystery program Killer Profile.{{cite web|last=Kondolojy|first=Amanda|title=LMN Premieres First Original Series 'Killer Profile' on Sunday October 13 at 9 AM|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/09/24/lmn-premieres-first-original-series-killer-profile-on-sunday-october-13-at-9-am/204640/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929062928/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/09/24/lmn-premieres-first-original-series-killer-profile-on-sunday-october-13-at-9-am/204640/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 29, 2013|work=TV by the Numbers|access-date=November 28, 2013|date=September 24, 2013}} In addition, three series that had previously aired on sister network The Biography Channel – The Haunting Of, I Survived... and Celebrity Ghost Stories – also moved to LMN that year. In March 2014, A+E Networks moved the drama series Those Who Kill to LMN, becoming the first scripted series to air on the network, although it solely moved to LMN to burn off the remaining episodes of the low-rated A&E program.{{cite web|title=Benched A&E Drama Series 'Those Who Kill' To Air On Sibling LMN|url=https://deadline.com/2014/03/ae-drama-series-those-who-kill-to-air-on-lmn-704408/|last=Andreeva|first=Nellie|work=Deadline Hollywood|date=March 25, 2014|access-date=March 26, 2014}}

=Rebrandings=

Over its {{age|1998|06|29}}-year history, the network has vacillated its main branding several times, usually alternating between its full name of Lifetime Movie Network and their initials of LMN depending on the network's marketing plan at the time of the name change. The network's branding history is as follows: