A&E buys Lifetime

Daily, I get emails from AdWeek about things that are going on in the world of advertising. It's one of several daily email newsletters I sort through once I'm home from work. Recently, one article caught my attention, "A&E acquires Lifetime."

I like this merger by A&E. I like A&E (Arts & Entertainment) television. I like their programming. A&E is the cable network where you can find shows such as Paranormal State (a personal favorite) and Intervention (also a personal favorite).

This merger also includes the Lifetime Movie Network, which has also produced some good, made-for-TV movies.

A&E also owns History (formerly The History Channel), which is a personal favorite cable channel in our household. According to the AdWeek article (found here: http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/media/e3id9eac057de820fdc81d518e33fd20296) all three networks, A&E, Lifetime and History will remain "intact."

However, I wonder, with this merger, whether the female demographic of Lifetime will change. Lifetime has always been known as "Television for Women." With this merger, I am curious whether or not the female demographic will change.

Of course, there are other female-oriented cable channels. Women's Entertainment (We) and Oxygen! also have female-centric demographics. So, even if A&E does change the demographic a little, the type of programming for the female demographics won't disappear entirely.

I'm curious to see, when the merger is finalized (the article does not mention a specific closing date), what changes A&E will bring to Lifetime, good or bad.

Thanks for reading.