Home Shopping Network
Encyclopedia
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network
televised via cable
, satellite
, and some terrestrial
channels in the Philippines
. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com. The channel is owned by HSN, Inc. , which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands.
in 1982 as the Home Shopping Club, a local cable channel seen on Vision Cable
and Group W Cable
in Pinellas County, Florida
, and expanded into the first national shopping network three years later on July 1, 1985, HSN (its initials forming its alternate name) pioneered the concept of a televised sales pitch
for consumer goods and services. Its competitor QVC was launched the following year.
HSN has its roots from a radio station managed by Paxson. In 1977, due to an advertiser's liquidity problem, the company was paid in can opener
s. Left with having to raise the funds, on-air personality Bob Circosta
went on the radio and sold the can openers for $9.95 each. The can openers sold out, and an industry was born. Circosta later became the new network's first ever home shopping host
and would eventually sell 75,000 different products in over 20,000 hours of live, on-air television.
In 1986, HSN began a second network that broadcast over the air
on a number of TV stations
it had acquired under the name Silver King Broadcasting. In 1999, the stations were sold to IAC founder Barry Diller
and changed its name to USA Broadcasting
, with a few of them ending HSN programming outside of overnight hours and taking on a local programming format equivalent to Toronto
's Citytv
. In 2001, they were sold again, this time to Univision
, and all HSN programs ceased on those channels; however, HSN continues to air on low-power stations
(One of this is owned in agreement by Univision). Ventana Television (ventana meaning window
in Spanish) has the same street address as HSN, and is the holding company
for its broadcast license
s. As of May, 2010, the HSN low power analog channel 60 in the New York City area was converted to low power digital channel 39.5.
In 1999, the company launched HSN.com, which as of 2009 is one of the top 10 most trafficked e-commerce sites. In 2008, HSN also started MySpace
and Facebook
pages. In an attempt to engage with younger consumers in 2009, HSN produced a 14-episode online video series, Faces of Beautiful You, which follows three young women who find solutions to many of life's problems through HSN's beauty products. The campaign included a Facebook widget, character blogs, and profiles for the three main characters on Twitter
, MySpace, and Facebook.
high definition. At launch, it was carried by Time Warner Cable
and Verizon FiOS
; it has since been added by Comcast
and AT&T U-verse. The network has a different presentation than most HD networks, choosing to present content so that the 4:3 cut for standard definition viewers is made on the extreme right side rather than everything being presented in the center of the screen with a cut on each side in order to maximize the amount of screen space to present products for both feeds.
has carried it since launch.
s on HSN include:
Regina Marlow, while regularly a model on HSN, has filled in for Diana Perkovic and Shannon Smith on different occasions. During Diana Perkovic's vacation for a month in 2011, Regina Marlow filled in for her. Diana returned on September 8, 2011. Past host Chris Scanlon left HSN in the fall of 2011.
s on HSN and America's Store include:
Home Shopping Game
and was used as station ID music until the early 1990s.
The current return from commercial music titled "Let's Go Nuts" was heard in a Clairol
Nice 'n Easy with ColorBlend Technology commercial from 2009. The track is used for a "coming up" bumper with the host reading the lineup. In some cases, the host does not read the lineup and only the music plays. This is done on some shows that are hosted by Shannon Smith and on different occasions on those hosted by Diana Perkovic. A track with a guitar and xylophone titled "Summer Bash" was used during the summer of 2010, and the first-ever Christmas version of the return from commercial track debuted for the 2010 holiday season.
Other production music tracks (including Christmas tracks and the current Today's Special and Showstopper tracks) are also used on HSN. The Today's Special track is titled "Rock with a Smile" with the Showstopper track titled "Cool as Ice". The Showstopper track that was used until 2010 was titled "Fresh Air".
operations are based in St. Petersburg, Florida
, which houses its corporate headquarters, studio and broadcasting facilities. Additional call center facilities are located in Roanoke, Virginia
. Distribution centers are situated in Roanoke, Piney Flats, Tennessee
, and Fontana, California
in order to ensure the fastest possible delivery of items.
HSN also operates four retail outlet stores in Orlando, Brandon, Bardmoor, and St. Petersburg (Emplorium). HSN broadcasts 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. On Christmas
, a mix of special programming airs from Christmas Eve afternoon until midnight on December 25. For the first twelve years, a looping Yule log
was aired from Noon Christmas Eve to Midnight December 26. Several years the show allows members of the staff to go on camera with their families to say hello to relatives back home.
In 1997, HSN formally launched its second nationwide electronic retail venture, a 24 hour network under the America's Store
name (it had operated similar concepts of more limited scale since 1988). This station took advantage of HSN's already extensive network of low-power
transmitters located in many major metropolitan markets throughout the United States. Eventually, the network was also picked up by some cable and satellite providers. While America's Store closely mirrored HSN's programming strategy and schedule format, it functioned primarily as an outlet
for distressed and discontinued HSN merchandise in various categories. Occasionally however, new merchandise would be showcased concurrently on both channels at varying schedules. Like its sister network, America's Store also had a full service internet website
that shared most of its functionality with the HSN parent site. In April, 2007, America's Store ceased operating permanently. Most of the America's Store hosts (some of which were already splitting hosting duties between networks) were absorbed into the HSN programming schedule.
In 1998, Home Shopping Network launched its Spanish version Home Shopping en Español on Univision's cable network Galavision. In 2000, the Spanish version re-branded itself as HSE and tapped into low-power stations in the US and Puerto Rico. It also ceased to broadcast through Galavision. In June 2002, HSE ceased to operate.
, was created by the ex-senior management figure of Auction World.tv
, Andy Sheldon.
The iBuy
shopping channel closed in May 2007, when 85 jobs were lost. The reasons for the channel's closure were cited to be connected to financial difficulties at the channel, due to their failure to successfully break into a market already dominated by shopping channels such as QVC
, sit-up Ltd
, Ideal World
and Gems TV
. It was suggested that there were a growing number of customer complaints over products, and controversy over the channel allegedly selling fake products, in particular Tiffany jewellery.
On 18 March 2007, iBuy
Senior Presenter Adam Freeman, revealed while on air, that it was to be his final shift. It was also revealed, that unlike many of the other staff at iBuy
, he wasn't to be out of a job. As like the previous iBuy
Head of Broadcasting, Andy Sheldon, Freeman will in fact be moving over to HSN for employment in the USA.
On 27 March 2007, it was officially announced on the iBuy
website that the channel has now ceased live broadcasting. In its slots, iBuy
will be offering a variety of programming over the coming weeks, which include pre-recorded iBuy Unique, and Rye by Post Collectibles.
was launched in 1987 as Canadian Home Shopping Network (CHSN), HSN's sister network in Canada. In 1999, the station was sold to Rogers Communications
and is no longer affiliated with HSN.
via Shop TV
, a shopping TV channel owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation
. It is also aired as a paid advertising block on IBC
and most of the channels owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation.
in 2001 as "Home Shopping Europe", replacing "H.O.T. Italia" (when this acronym intended the television channel Home Order Television). In 2003 the frequencies of HSE were sold to Mediaset
and the channel was renamed Mediashopping
.
was used. HSN claimed that the systems' inability to handle the high call volumes resulted in a loss of business. HSN sued GTE for $1.5 Billion. In a counter-libel suit, GTE claimed that HSN had slandered the company. GTE won a $100 Million judgment. Both parties settled out of court. In the interim, HSN found another telephone vendor to handle its call volume. The Rockwell
corporation's Galaxy line of switches was used for the current call center (as well as the new locations in St. Petersburg).
HSN has an in house call center is St. Petersburg, Florida which mostly handles customer service calls. HSN also employs several hundred customer service representatives from work at home positions who take calls and place orders via HSN's customer service intranet. HSN also contracts call centers to handle its sales calls especially when HSN is broadcasting shows with highly popular items.
, Minnesota
. The product made use of an Intel PC chassis and Dialogic
boards for call termination. As the system also needed to communicate with the Burroughs mainframe, it used a serial connection to communicate with the online application. While PSi had off-the-shelf components, it required a great deal of customization to create scripts and interface with the order entry system. Interestingly enough, PSi ran up a high amount of hours and this causes HSN to actually purchase PSi rather than pay their bill. Once released, the system was branded TOOTIE (after the infamous bicycle horn that show hosts used to help excite the audience and was the network's mascot up until the mid 90's).
As the size of HSN's call center kept increasing, it decided to create a new IVR platform that could handle more load. As nothing available on the open market could handle the volume HSN required, the PSi subsidiary started work on a customer platform called the TSP. This platform was installed in HSN's new facility and could handle a large number of T1 lines (each T1
is 24 separate callers). This system originally communicated through a Stratus
computer (acting as a poll/select terminal gateway) to the mainframe, but this was later changed to a direct TCP/IP connection. This system was dubbed Tootie II internally.
. Once HSN decided to go national, a new mainframe called the "A Series" from Burroughs (now Unisys
) was used. This new system, named the A3, went live on July 1, 1985 and by April 1986, HSN was on an A15j (the largest commercial business processor available at the time). The main order entry system was written in a 4GL code generator called the Logic and Information Network Compiler (LINC)—since renamed Agile Business Suite by Unisys. Some controversy existed around the role of the original IBM code's use in the development of the new system. As Pioneer Data Systems provided the software for the HSN local (IBM) operation, the code was licensed to run the national (Burroughs) version. The problem is these systems were not compatible. An IRS court ruled that the code was inspirational to the new system and thus the license agreement was valid for taxation purposes.
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
televised via cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
, satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
, and some terrestrial
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
channels in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com. The channel is owned by HSN, Inc. , which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands.
History
Launched by Lowell 'Bud' Paxson and Roy SpeerRoy Speer
Roy Speer was the financial backing behind the Home Shopping Network. He was the first CEO of the company and saw its revenue from $1.9 million to over $1 billion annually...
in 1982 as the Home Shopping Club, a local cable channel seen on Vision Cable
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
and Group W Cable
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
in Pinellas County, Florida
Pinellas County, Florida
Pinellas County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its county seat is Clearwater, Florida, and its largest city is St. Petersburg. This county is contained entirely within the telephone area code 727, except for some sections of Oldsmar, which have the area code 813...
, and expanded into the first national shopping network three years later on July 1, 1985, HSN (its initials forming its alternate name) pioneered the concept of a televised sales pitch
Sales pitch
In selling technique, a sales pitch is a line of talk that attempts to persuade someone or something, with a planned sales presentation strategy of a product or service designed to initiate and close a sale of the product or service....
for consumer goods and services. Its competitor QVC was launched the following year.
HSN has its roots from a radio station managed by Paxson. In 1977, due to an advertiser's liquidity problem, the company was paid in can opener
Can opener
A can opener is a device used to open metal cans. Although preservation of food using tin cans had been practiced since at least 1772 in the Netherlands, the first can openers were patented only in 1855 in England and in 1858 in the United States. Those openers were basically variations of a...
s. Left with having to raise the funds, on-air personality Bob Circosta
Bob Circosta
Bob Circosta is television's first ever home shopping host and has achieved over one billion dollars in personal product sales on live television. His offices are in Clearwater, Florida, just a few miles from the Home Shopping Network's corporate building...
went on the radio and sold the can openers for $9.95 each. The can openers sold out, and an industry was born. Circosta later became the new network's first ever home shopping host
Home shopping host
A home shopping host is the on-air host that partners with guests on television shopping channels, such as HSN, QVC, and ShopNBC. The job of a home shopping host is to introduce new presenters and guests to the television audience, and help these guests explain the values and features of the...
and would eventually sell 75,000 different products in over 20,000 hours of live, on-air television.
In 1986, HSN began a second network that broadcast over the air
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
on a number of TV stations
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
it had acquired under the name Silver King Broadcasting. In 1999, the stations were sold to IAC founder Barry Diller
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.-Early life:...
and changed its name to USA Broadcasting
USA Broadcasting
USA Broadcasting was an American media company owned by veteran entertainment industry executive Barry Diller. This network was the over-the-air broadcasting arm of USA Network....
, with a few of them ending HSN programming outside of overnight hours and taking on a local programming format equivalent to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
. In 2001, they were sold again, this time to Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
, and all HSN programs ceased on those channels; however, HSN continues to air on low-power stations
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...
(One of this is owned in agreement by Univision). Ventana Television (ventana meaning window
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
in Spanish) has the same street address as HSN, and is the holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
for its broadcast license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
s. As of May, 2010, the HSN low power analog channel 60 in the New York City area was converted to low power digital channel 39.5.
In 1999, the company launched HSN.com, which as of 2009 is one of the top 10 most trafficked e-commerce sites. In 2008, HSN also started MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
pages. In an attempt to engage with younger consumers in 2009, HSN produced a 14-episode online video series, Faces of Beautiful You, which follows three young women who find solutions to many of life's problems through HSN's beauty products. The campaign included a Facebook widget, character blogs, and profiles for the three main characters on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, MySpace, and Facebook.
HSN HD
In August 2009, HSN launched its HDTV channel, broadcasting in 1080i1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
high definition. At launch, it was carried by Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
and Verizon FiOS
Fíos
Fíos is one of 17 parishes in Parres, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain....
; it has since been added by Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and AT&T U-verse. The network has a different presentation than most HD networks, choosing to present content so that the 4:3 cut for standard definition viewers is made on the extreme right side rather than everything being presented in the center of the screen with a cut on each side in order to maximize the amount of screen space to present products for both feeds.
HSN2
HSN launched a companion channel, HSN2, on August 1, 2010. Dish NetworkDish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
has carried it since launch.
Current hosts
Present home shopping hostHome shopping host
A home shopping host is the on-air host that partners with guests on television shopping channels, such as HSN, QVC, and ShopNBC. The job of a home shopping host is to introduce new presenters and guests to the television audience, and help these guests explain the values and features of the...
s on HSN include:
- Adam Freeman (2007-present)
- Alan Skantz (1991-present)
- Alicia Perez (2008-present)
- Alyce Caron (2003-present)
- Amy Morrison (2005-present)
- Anji Corley (2011-present)
- Bill Green (1994–present)
- Bobbi Ray CarterBobbi Ray CarterBobbi Ray Carter is a long-time home shopping host on HSN. Formerly nicknamed Bubblin' Bobbi Ray, her gregarious personality has rendered her one of the network's most popular hosts. She is primarily associated with fashion and beauty products....
(1983–present) - Brett Chukerman (2011-present)
- Callie Northagen (1999–present)
- Carrie Smith (2011-present)
- Colleen Lopez (1994-present)
- Connie Craig-Carroll (1998-present)
- Diana Perkovic (1999-present)
- Guy Yovan (August 4, 2009-present)
- Helen KeaneyHelen KeaneyHelen Keaney is a host on the Home Shopping Network. She was a member of "3 Blonde Moms" Previously she did national television commercials for various products including Clorox, Tylenol, Gateway, Degree Deodorant, Dr...
(2008-present) - Kathy Wolf (1992–present)
- Lesley Machado (2011-present)
- Lynn Murphy (1991–present)
- Michelle Sorro (appeared on The ApprenticeThe ApprenticeThe Apprentice is a television franchise which originated in 2004 in the United States. As originally conceived, the show depicted 16 contestants from around the country with various backgrounds competing in an elimination-style competition to become an apprentice to Donald Trump...
) (2011-present) - Rachel Huber (2001–present)
- Shannon Smith (1986–present)
- Shivan Sarna (1999–present)
- Suzanne Runyan (2004–present)
- Tamara Hooks (2006-present)
- Robin Wall (1995–present)
- Marlo Smith (1997-present)
Regina Marlow, while regularly a model on HSN, has filled in for Diana Perkovic and Shannon Smith on different occasions. During Diana Perkovic's vacation for a month in 2011, Regina Marlow filled in for her. Diana returned on September 8, 2011. Past host Chris Scanlon left HSN in the fall of 2011.
Guest product experts
- Katie LinendollKatie LinendollKatie Linendoll is a TV host, producer and technology expert.Linendoll is a regular contributor to the CBS Early Show, CNN Newsroom and The Nate Berkus Show. She was also the co-host of the A&E reality series We Mean Business along with Peter Gursky and Bill Rancic...
(the #1 guest product expert on HSN) - Maven HuffmanMaven HuffmanMaven Klint Huffman is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment between October 2001 and July 5, 2005 under the name Maven. In 2008 he became a guest expert on the Home Shopping Network.-Early life:Maven was born to an African-American...
- Bruce Singer
- Brandon Singer
- Carey Parker
- Kim Church (former host on Shop at Home NetworkShop at Home NetworkThe Shop at Home Network was a television network in the United States Before its acquisition by Jewelry Television in 2006, The E. W. Scripps Company owned and operated the network from 2002 until 2006, when the network temporarily ceased operations on June 21...
and Jewelry TelevisionJewelry TelevisionJewelry Television is an American television network, similar to the Home Shopping Network. It was formerly called "America's Collectibles Network" . The privately-held company was founded in 1993 and broadcasts high definition programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to over 80 million unique...
) - Vonabell Sherman www.vonabell.net Vonabell ShermanVonabell ShermanVonabell Sherman is best known as a Home Shopping Network on-air guest since 2001, presenting a wide variety of home and family products. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and also holds nursing licenses in Florida and New York...
(home,family,organization expert) - Chef Rick Tarantino (research and celebrity chef)
- Keri Maletto (Culinary Product Expert) www.KeriMaletto.com
- Marc Gill (Culinary Guest)
Past hosts
Past home shopping hostHome shopping host
A home shopping host is the on-air host that partners with guests on television shopping channels, such as HSN, QVC, and ShopNBC. The job of a home shopping host is to introduce new presenters and guests to the television audience, and help these guests explain the values and features of the...
s on HSN and America's Store include:
- Rob BrydonRob BrydonRob Brydon is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist...
- Bob CircostaBob CircostaBob Circosta is television's first ever home shopping host and has achieved over one billion dollars in personal product sales on live television. His offices are in Clearwater, Florida, just a few miles from the Home Shopping Network's corporate building...
(HSN's first host; works at his offices next door to HSN) (regular) - Alice ClevelandAlice ClevelandAlice Cleveland is a former television home shopping host on HSN and most recently an on-air vendor representative on QVC.She was fired from HSN shortly after being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease; HSN maintained that her dismissal was based on the network's...
- John CremeansJohn CremeansJohn Cremeans is one of the first on-air home shopping hosts and is considered a pioneer in the home shopping industry. From 1985 to 2009, Cremeans's span of 24 years as a national television host is rivaled by only a few in electronic retailing with over 25,000 live television hours and over...
(left HSN after several years) - Bill DugganBill DugganBill Duggan is an American actor. He was raised in San Francisco, California. He was an active member of his grade school speech program. He began acting in high school, performing in school plays and musicals. He continued his training at Santa Clara University, where he received an acting...
(guest product expert) - Todd NewtonTodd NewtonTodd Newton is an entertainment personality and a three-time game show host.Newton has hosted Hollywood Showdown and Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck, both on Game Show Network; and Coming Attractions on E!, as well as occasional episodes of Wild On... He is known for occasionally wearing a...
(also hosted Hollywood Showdown and Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck on Game Show NetworkGame Show NetworkThe Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
)
Models (partial list)
- Regina Marlow
- Kara Preston
- Natalie Hayden
- Sonja Ryans
- Lisa York (plus-size and speaking model)
- Janique Rice
- Annette Millan
- Kirsten Hill
- Lori Livingston
- Melissa Lawrence
- Melissa Vogt
- Veronica Berry
- Andrea Fredrickson
- Gabriella Visser
- Nora Ad
- Nadia Moorgan
- Amy O'Hara
- Colette Cannova
- Carol Hewetson
- Pamela Harper
Product categories
- Jewelry
- Fashion
- Beauty
- Health & Fitness
- For Home Decoration
- Kitchen & Dining
- Electronics
- Crafts & Sewing
- Toys
- NFL items
- Collectibles
- Personalized gifts
- Outdoors
Music
HSN used a wide variety of themes and cues over its years. In 1987, a theme from Home Shopping Club was used as the theme to the short-lived syndicated game showGame show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Home Shopping Game
Home Shopping Game
The Home Shopping Game was a short-lived American television game show that aired in syndication for three months in 1987 and blended the popularity of home shopping with word-identification challenges...
and was used as station ID music until the early 1990s.
The current return from commercial music titled "Let's Go Nuts" was heard in a Clairol
Clairol
Clairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by Lawrence M. Gelb and wife, Joan, who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France....
Nice 'n Easy with ColorBlend Technology commercial from 2009. The track is used for a "coming up" bumper with the host reading the lineup. In some cases, the host does not read the lineup and only the music plays. This is done on some shows that are hosted by Shannon Smith and on different occasions on those hosted by Diana Perkovic. A track with a guitar and xylophone titled "Summer Bash" was used during the summer of 2010, and the first-ever Christmas version of the return from commercial track debuted for the 2010 holiday season.
Other production music tracks (including Christmas tracks and the current Today's Special and Showstopper tracks) are also used on HSN. The Today's Special track is titled "Rock with a Smile" with the Showstopper track titled "Cool as Ice". The Showstopper track that was used until 2010 was titled "Fresh Air".
Operations
HSN runs 24 hours a day, although programming hours vary between each region, based upon the local TV provider.United States
HSN's U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
operations are based in St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
, which houses its corporate headquarters, studio and broadcasting facilities. Additional call center facilities are located in Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
. Distribution centers are situated in Roanoke, Piney Flats, Tennessee
Piney Flats, Tennessee
Piney Flats is an unincorporated community in Sullivan County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is part of the Kingsport–Bristol –Bristol Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area –...
, and Fontana, California
Fontana, California
Fontana is a city of 196,069 residents in San Bernardino County, California. Founded in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area...
in order to ensure the fastest possible delivery of items.
HSN also operates four retail outlet stores in Orlando, Brandon, Bardmoor, and St. Petersburg (Emplorium). HSN broadcasts 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. On Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, a mix of special programming airs from Christmas Eve afternoon until midnight on December 25. For the first twelve years, a looping Yule log
Yule log
A Yule log is a large and extremely hard log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in several European cultures...
was aired from Noon Christmas Eve to Midnight December 26. Several years the show allows members of the staff to go on camera with their families to say hello to relatives back home.
In 1997, HSN formally launched its second nationwide electronic retail venture, a 24 hour network under the America's Store
America's Store
America's Store was a US shopping television network. It was the spin-off channel to the Home Shopping Network . On April 3, 2007, America's Store ceased broadcasting permanently....
name (it had operated similar concepts of more limited scale since 1988). This station took advantage of HSN's already extensive network of low-power
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...
transmitters located in many major metropolitan markets throughout the United States. Eventually, the network was also picked up by some cable and satellite providers. While America's Store closely mirrored HSN's programming strategy and schedule format, it functioned primarily as an outlet
Outlet
Outlet may mean:* An electrical outlet* An outlet store or outlet mall* The pelvic outlet* A type of instance variable used for graphical user interface programming in the OpenStep / Cocoa environment* Outlet, Ontario, a community in Canada...
for distressed and discontinued HSN merchandise in various categories. Occasionally however, new merchandise would be showcased concurrently on both channels at varying schedules. Like its sister network, America's Store also had a full service internet website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
that shared most of its functionality with the HSN parent site. In April, 2007, America's Store ceased operating permanently. Most of the America's Store hosts (some of which were already splitting hosting duties between networks) were absorbed into the HSN programming schedule.
In 1998, Home Shopping Network launched its Spanish version Home Shopping en Español on Univision's cable network Galavision. In 2000, the Spanish version re-branded itself as HSE and tapped into low-power stations in the US and Puerto Rico. It also ceased to broadcast through Galavision. In June 2002, HSE ceased to operate.
UK
HSN had a UK sister network called HSE, which has ceased trading. On the 18 April 2005, the falling price auction channel iBuyIBuy
iBuy was a minor British satellite-based home shopping channel.Created & launched on the 18 April 2005, by Andy Sheldon, who was one of George Spitaliotis's senior management figures at Auction World.tv and also created their sister channel Chase-It.tv....
, was created by the ex-senior management figure of Auction World.tv
Auction World.tv
Auction World.tv was a British television channel which auctioned a variety of products by telephone bidding.The channel claimed to sell high-quality products at very low prices and promised reliable delivery, however doubt was cast over these claims after investigations reported by papers and...
, Andy Sheldon.
The iBuy
IBuy
iBuy was a minor British satellite-based home shopping channel.Created & launched on the 18 April 2005, by Andy Sheldon, who was one of George Spitaliotis's senior management figures at Auction World.tv and also created their sister channel Chase-It.tv....
shopping channel closed in May 2007, when 85 jobs were lost. The reasons for the channel's closure were cited to be connected to financial difficulties at the channel, due to their failure to successfully break into a market already dominated by shopping channels such as QVC
QVC (UK)
QVC UK is a digital television shopping channel broadcast in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1993 when QVC, Inc. formed a deal with Sky TV to create a UK version of the US channel. "QVC — The Shopping Channel" first broadcast in the UK on 1 October 1993. QVC UK - 20% owned by Sky - moved into...
, sit-up Ltd
Sit-up Ltd
Bid Shopping is a UK based broadcaster which launched in 2000.To over 12 million homes, it delivers a portfolio of falling price shopping television channels. On 1 April 2009 it was announced that Sit-Up Ltd had been sold by Virgin Media to AURELIUS AG. The purchase price or terms of the agreement...
, Ideal World
Ideal World
Ideal World is a shopping channel in the UK whose sister shopping channels include Create and Craft, Ideal Extra and Ideal & More. It is owned by Ideal Shopping Direct Plc. Their sister health and beauty channel, Vitality, closed early in 2008...
and Gems TV
Gems TV
Gems TV was a jewellery manufacturer and reverse auction TV shopping network headquartered in Chanthaburi, Thailand. It began its operations in October 2004 in the UK, and then expanded to Germany, America, Japan and China...
. It was suggested that there were a growing number of customer complaints over products, and controversy over the channel allegedly selling fake products, in particular Tiffany jewellery.
On 18 March 2007, iBuy
IBuy
iBuy was a minor British satellite-based home shopping channel.Created & launched on the 18 April 2005, by Andy Sheldon, who was one of George Spitaliotis's senior management figures at Auction World.tv and also created their sister channel Chase-It.tv....
Senior Presenter Adam Freeman, revealed while on air, that it was to be his final shift. It was also revealed, that unlike many of the other staff at iBuy
IBuy
iBuy was a minor British satellite-based home shopping channel.Created & launched on the 18 April 2005, by Andy Sheldon, who was one of George Spitaliotis's senior management figures at Auction World.tv and also created their sister channel Chase-It.tv....
, he wasn't to be out of a job. As like the previous iBuy
IBuy
iBuy was a minor British satellite-based home shopping channel.Created & launched on the 18 April 2005, by Andy Sheldon, who was one of George Spitaliotis's senior management figures at Auction World.tv and also created their sister channel Chase-It.tv....
Head of Broadcasting, Andy Sheldon, Freeman will in fact be moving over to HSN for employment in the USA.
On 27 March 2007, it was officially announced on the iBuy
IBuy
iBuy was a minor British satellite-based home shopping channel.Created & launched on the 18 April 2005, by Andy Sheldon, who was one of George Spitaliotis's senior management figures at Auction World.tv and also created their sister channel Chase-It.tv....
website that the channel has now ceased live broadcasting. In its slots, iBuy
IBuy
iBuy was a minor British satellite-based home shopping channel.Created & launched on the 18 April 2005, by Andy Sheldon, who was one of George Spitaliotis's senior management figures at Auction World.tv and also created their sister channel Chase-It.tv....
will be offering a variety of programming over the coming weeks, which include pre-recorded iBuy Unique, and Rye by Post Collectibles.
Canada
The Shopping ChannelThe Shopping Channel
The Shopping Channel is a Canadian English language cable television home shopping channel. The Shopping Channel is a division of Rogers Media. The channel is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. It showcases various products throughout the day of which viewers can purchase either by telephone or...
was launched in 1987 as Canadian Home Shopping Network (CHSN), HSN's sister network in Canada. In 1999, the station was sold to Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
and is no longer affiliated with HSN.
Philippines
Home Shopping Network is currently aired in the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
via Shop TV
Shop TV
SHOP TV is a 24-hour shopping related TV channel owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation in partnership with Home Shopping Network....
, a shopping TV channel owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation
Solar Entertainment Corporation
Solar Entertainment Corporation is a Makati, Philippines-based media company with 6 cable channels 4 Free-TV Channels and a film distribution company...
. It is also aired as a paid advertising block on IBC
Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation
Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation is a Philippine VHF television network of the Government Communications Group headed by the Press Secretary. Its studios are located at Broadcast City, Old Balara, Capitol Hills, Diliman, Quezon City and its transmitter is located at the Coca Cola plant,...
and most of the channels owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation.
Italy
Home Shopping Europe was launched in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 2001 as "Home Shopping Europe", replacing "H.O.T. Italia" (when this acronym intended the television channel Home Order Television). In 2003 the frequencies of HSE were sold to Mediaset
Mediaset
Mediaset S.p.A., known as Gruppo Mediaset in Italian, is an Italian-based media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country...
and the channel was renamed Mediashopping
Mediashopping
for you is an Italian shopping television channel, available on digital terrestrial television in Italy.Owned by the Italian media company Mediaset through its subsidiary Mediashopping, the channel is the rebranding of ME, previously launched on 1 March 2011 on the same network.-External links:*...
.
Call center
HSN National started life with a standard rotary phone system that concentrated calls to the front of the queue. This corresponded to the front row of order takers in the HSN Studio at the Levitz Center (so named as the location was a former Levitz furniture store) in Clearwater. After several months, this system was no longer adequate and HSN entered a phase where a phone system from GTEGTE
GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System....
was used. HSN claimed that the systems' inability to handle the high call volumes resulted in a loss of business. HSN sued GTE for $1.5 Billion. In a counter-libel suit, GTE claimed that HSN had slandered the company. GTE won a $100 Million judgment. Both parties settled out of court. In the interim, HSN found another telephone vendor to handle its call volume. The Rockwell
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate in the latter half of the 20th century, involved in aircraft, the space industry, both defense-oriented and commercial electronics, automotive and truck components, printing presses, valves and meters, and industrial automation....
corporation's Galaxy line of switches was used for the current call center (as well as the new locations in St. Petersburg).
HSN has an in house call center is St. Petersburg, Florida which mostly handles customer service calls. HSN also employs several hundred customer service representatives from work at home positions who take calls and place orders via HSN's customer service intranet. HSN also contracts call centers to handle its sales calls especially when HSN is broadcasting shows with highly popular items.
Interactive Voice Response
HSN was an early adopter of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for order entry. This system allowed customers to place orders through the IVR rather than an agent. The original IVR was a product supplied by Precision Software, Incorporated (PSi) of St. PaulSaint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. The product made use of an Intel PC chassis and Dialogic
Dialogic
The English terms dialogic and dialogism often refer to the concept used by the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin in his work of literary theory, The Dialogic Imagination. Bakhtin contrasts the dialogic and the "monologic" work of literature. The dialogic work carries on a continual dialogue...
boards for call termination. As the system also needed to communicate with the Burroughs mainframe, it used a serial connection to communicate with the online application. While PSi had off-the-shelf components, it required a great deal of customization to create scripts and interface with the order entry system. Interestingly enough, PSi ran up a high amount of hours and this causes HSN to actually purchase PSi rather than pay their bill. Once released, the system was branded TOOTIE (after the infamous bicycle horn that show hosts used to help excite the audience and was the network's mascot up until the mid 90's).
As the size of HSN's call center kept increasing, it decided to create a new IVR platform that could handle more load. As nothing available on the open market could handle the volume HSN required, the PSi subsidiary started work on a customer platform called the TSP. This platform was installed in HSN's new facility and could handle a large number of T1 lines (each T1
Digital Signal 1
Digital signal 1 is a T-carrier signaling scheme devised by Bell Labs. DS1 is a widely used standard in telecommunications in North America and Japan to transmit voice and data between devices. E1 is used in place of T1 outside North America, Japan, and South Korea...
is 24 separate callers). This system originally communicated through a Stratus
Stratus Technologies
Stratus Technologies, Inc. a major producer of fault tolerant computer servers. The company was founded in 1980 as Stratus Computer, Inc. in Natick, Massachusetts, and adopted its present name in 1999. The current CEO and president is Dave Laurello. Stratus Technologies, Inc. is a privately held...
computer (acting as a poll/select terminal gateway) to the mainframe, but this was later changed to a direct TCP/IP connection. This system was dubbed Tootie II internally.
Computer systems
The original computer system used for the local Home Shopping Channel was an IBM System/36System/36
The IBM System/36 was a minicomputer marketed by IBM from 1983 to 2000. It was a multi-user, multi-tasking successor to the System/34. Like the System/34 and the older System/32, the System/36 was primarily programmed in the RPG II language...
. Once HSN decided to go national, a new mainframe called the "A Series" from Burroughs (now Unisys
Unisys
Unisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a long established business whose core products now involves computing and networking.-History:...
) was used. This new system, named the A3, went live on July 1, 1985 and by April 1986, HSN was on an A15j (the largest commercial business processor available at the time). The main order entry system was written in a 4GL code generator called the Logic and Information Network Compiler (LINC)—since renamed Agile Business Suite by Unisys. Some controversy existed around the role of the original IBM code's use in the development of the new system. As Pioneer Data Systems provided the software for the HSN local (IBM) operation, the code was licensed to run the national (Burroughs) version. The problem is these systems were not compatible. An IRS court ruled that the code was inspirational to the new system and thus the license agreement was valid for taxation purposes.
See also
- Ballard Designs
- Home shopping hostHome shopping hostA home shopping host is the on-air host that partners with guests on television shopping channels, such as HSN, QVC, and ShopNBC. The job of a home shopping host is to introduce new presenters and guests to the television audience, and help these guests explain the values and features of the...
- Shopping channels
- WJXRWJXRWJXR 92.1 FM is a U.S. radio station located in Macclenny, Florida in Baker County, with two additional offices in Jacksonville...
(JacksonvilleJacksonville, FloridaJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
radio station with a shopping format similar to the pre-HSN roots) - KTOU-LPKTOU-LPKTOU-LP Channel 21 is an HSN Affiliate based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And digital Channel 21. It broadcasts on Channel 21, and is owned by Mako Communications.-KTOU-LP:KTOU-LP broadcasts on digital channel 21....
(Oklahoma CityOklahoma City, OklahomaOklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
television station with a HSN)
Sources
- A Man. A Plan. A Can Opener. ClickZ Network
- "Can You Believe This Price?" Time Magazine
- Bob Circosta Interview about HSN Media Talk
- It started with 112 can openers St. Petersburg Times
- GTE Settles DIspute with Home Shopping NY Times