Lifetime Movie Network
Encyclopedia
Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) is a cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services
, LLC
, a subsidiary of A&E Television Networks
, LLC. A&E Television Networks
is a joint venture
of the Disney-ABC Television Group
, Hearst Corporation
and NBCUniversal. LMN offers women-oriented movies exclusively, especially made for television movies. Some of its movies are Lifetime Originals first shown on Lifetime.
with limited commercial interruptions, airing twice a day. As the network grew, more commercial breaks have been added, and slowly the network has added theatrical releases to the schedule. There are now different movies each day, some repeating into the next programming day. The channel rebranded as LMN in 2007, and re-added the full name in mid-2008 in Lifetime Networks's attempt to broaden their brand beyond what it previously had been.
On April 19, 2009, the broadcast of Natalee Holloway
attracted 3.2 million viewers and more than 1 million women in the 18-49 age bracket, garnering the highest Nielsen ratings
in the network's history at that time. Although it set ratings records for Lifetime, the movie was not received well by critic Alec Harvey of The Birmingham News
, who called the movie "sloppy and uneven, a forgettable look at the tragedy that consumed the nation's attention for months". However, Jake Meaney of PopMatters
found the film to be surprisingly "calm and levelheaded", and praised Tracy Pollan
's portrayal of Holloway's mother. Suspect Joran van der Sloot
himself watched the film one evening in 2010, according to his friend John Ludwick, and said that some parts were true while others were not.
On August 27, 2009, A&E Television Networks
acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services
.
On Palm Sunday
, March 28, 2010, the Lifetime Movie Network premiered Amish Grace
, which broke network records in multiple demographics
, with more than 4 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated and most-watched original movie in Lifetime Movie Network’s history in Households (3.8/2,916,449 viewers), Total Viewers (2.0/4,020,496), Women 18+ (3.5/2,729,834), Women 25-54 (2.7/1,156,363), Adults 18+ (2.4/3,649,266) and Adults 25-54 (1.9/1,585,667). The movie is about the 2006 Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania
, Amish school shooting
and the spirit of forgiveness the Amish
community demonstrated in its aftermath. The movie stars Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tammy Blanchard
, and Matt Letscher
and is based on the book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, Jossey-Bass, 2007, ISBN 0787997617, by Donald Kraybill
, Steven Nolt
, and David L. Weaver-Zercher. Amish Grace
was executive-produced by Larry A. Thompson
; written by Sylvie White and Teena Booth; and directed by Gregg Champion. The movie received many positive reviews; however, it also received criticism because the authors of Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, Jossey-Bass, 2007, ISBN 0787997617, distanced themselves from the production out of respect to the Amish
community. Others criticized the movie for blending facts with fiction.
Lifetime Entertainment Services
Lifetime Entertainment Services was an American entertainment industry company, whose media properties were focused on women. Lifetime Entertainment Services was a joint venture of Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company ....
, LLC
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
, a subsidiary of A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks is a U.S. media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the US and abroad...
, LLC. A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks is a U.S. media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the US and abroad...
is a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
of the Disney-ABC Television Group
Disney-ABC Television Group
Disney-ABC Television Group manages all of The Walt Disney Company's worldwide entertainment and news television properties...
, Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
and NBCUniversal. LMN offers women-oriented movies exclusively, especially made for television movies. Some of its movies are Lifetime Originals first shown on Lifetime.
History
Lifetime Movie Network launched on June 29, 1998. The original format of the network were longer segments of made for television moviesTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
with limited commercial interruptions, airing twice a day. As the network grew, more commercial breaks have been added, and slowly the network has added theatrical releases to the schedule. There are now different movies each day, some repeating into the next programming day. The channel rebranded as LMN in 2007, and re-added the full name in mid-2008 in Lifetime Networks's attempt to broaden their brand beyond what it previously had been.
On April 19, 2009, the broadcast of Natalee Holloway
Natalee Holloway (film)
Natalee Holloway is a 2009 film directed by Mikael Salomon. The made-for-television movie is based on Beth Holloway's book about the 2005 disappearance of her daughter Natalee Holloway. The film stars Amy Gumenick as Natalee Holloway, Tracy Pollan as Beth Holloway-Twitty, and Jacques Strydom as...
attracted 3.2 million viewers and more than 1 million women in the 18-49 age bracket, garnering the highest Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
in the network's history at that time. Although it set ratings records for Lifetime, the movie was not received well by critic Alec Harvey of The Birmingham News
The Birmingham News
The Birmingham News is the principal daily newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and the largest newspaper in Alabama. The paper is owned by Advance Publications...
, who called the movie "sloppy and uneven, a forgettable look at the tragedy that consumed the nation's attention for months". However, Jake Meaney of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
found the film to be surprisingly "calm and levelheaded", and praised Tracy Pollan
Tracy Pollan
Tracy Jo Pollan is an American actress. She is perhaps best-known for her recurring role as Ellen Reed on the sitcom Family Ties in the mid-1980s. It was on this show that she met future husband Michael J. Fox.-Personal life:...
's portrayal of Holloway's mother. Suspect Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot
Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot is a Dutch national who lived in Aruba. He has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States for wire fraud and extortion related to the whereabouts of Natalee Holloway, who disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005, and is charged in Peru with the...
himself watched the film one evening in 2010, according to his friend John Ludwick, and said that some parts were true while others were not.
On August 27, 2009, A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks is a U.S. media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the US and abroad...
acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services
Lifetime Entertainment Services
Lifetime Entertainment Services was an American entertainment industry company, whose media properties were focused on women. Lifetime Entertainment Services was a joint venture of Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company ....
.
On Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
, March 28, 2010, the Lifetime Movie Network premiered Amish Grace
Amish Grace
Amish Grace is a television film that premiered on the Lifetime Movie Network on Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010. The movie is based on the 2006 Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, Amish school shooting and the spirit of forgiveness the Amish community demonstrated in its aftermath...
, which broke network records in multiple demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
, with more than 4 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated and most-watched original movie in Lifetime Movie Network’s history in Households (3.8/2,916,449 viewers), Total Viewers (2.0/4,020,496), Women 18+ (3.5/2,729,834), Women 25-54 (2.7/1,156,363), Adults 18+ (2.4/3,649,266) and Adults 25-54 (1.9/1,585,667). The movie is about the 2006 Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania
Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania
Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania is a hamlet in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA.The nickel mines that give the town its name were worked in a deposit of sulfide ore, principally millerite. The mines were originally opened in the early 18th century for copper, but were given up as...
, Amish school shooting
Amish school shooting
The Amish school shooting was a shooting at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 2006...
and the spirit of forgiveness the Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
community demonstrated in its aftermath. The movie stars Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tammy Blanchard
Tammy Blanchard
Tammy Blanchard is an American actress. She has worked primarily in films and television, making her professional start in the soap opera Guiding Light...
, and Matt Letscher
Matt Letscher
Matthew Letscher is an American actor.-Biography:Letscher was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He attended college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity....
and is based on the book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, Jossey-Bass, 2007, ISBN 0787997617, by Donald Kraybill
Donald Kraybill
Donald B. Kraybill is a prolific author, lecturer, and educator on Anabaptist faiths and living. Kraybill is widely recognized for his studies on Anabaptist groups, and is the foremost living expert on the Old Order Amish....
, Steven Nolt
Steven Nolt
Steven M. Nolt is professor of history at Goshen College and author of ten books, most of which focus on Amish and Mennonite history and culture. He is a frequent source for journalists and other researching Anabaptist groups. He was often quoted in the aftermath of the 2006 Amish school shooting...
, and David L. Weaver-Zercher. Amish Grace
Amish Grace
Amish Grace is a television film that premiered on the Lifetime Movie Network on Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010. The movie is based on the 2006 Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, Amish school shooting and the spirit of forgiveness the Amish community demonstrated in its aftermath...
was executive-produced by Larry A. Thompson
Larry A. Thompson
Larry A. Thompson is a Hollywood film producer, personal manager, book packager, author, and motivational speaker. He is founder and President of the Larry Thompson Organization, a Los Angeles based Talent Management, Motion Picture, Television, and New Media Production Studio.Having managed the...
; written by Sylvie White and Teena Booth; and directed by Gregg Champion. The movie received many positive reviews; however, it also received criticism because the authors of Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, Jossey-Bass, 2007, ISBN 0787997617, distanced themselves from the production out of respect to the Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
community. Others criticized the movie for blending facts with fiction.