Less than one year after purchasing Fit TV, Fox/Liberty
Networks will overhaul the sports, lifestyle and fitness service to target female viewers.
The five-year-old service will also get a new leader:
Fox/Liberty Networks executive Pyper Davis was named president of the service last week.
The network, currently in 12 million homes, will relaunch
Jan. 1 with more lifestyle and fitness programming reflective of women 18 to 49, Davis
said. Under the tag line, "Keeping you fit mind, body and soul," the service
will offer aerobics and fitness shows, lifestyle shows, travel shows and other programming
of interest to women viewers.
It will also add other sports-related programming, such as
yoga and kick-boxing, and it could feature some women's sports events.
But Davis, who will oversee the day-to-day operations of
the service, stopped short of saying that Fit TV will be a total women's-sports
network. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made in the past to launch 24-hour
women's-sports networks.
"We're not going to be a women's-sports
network, per se, but it will feature fitness and lifestyles programming," Davis said.
Davis said the network is currently pitching operators on
the new format. "We've had some preliminary discussions with some operators, and
the reaction so far has been positive," Davis said.
One top 10 MSO programming executive commended the network
for reaching out to the underserved female audience. He hopes, however, that the format
change doesn't come with an increase in licensing fees.
Davis would only say that the network is in the process of
developing a rate card, and she would not reveal further details.
Davis joins Fit TV after serving as senior vice president
of operations for Fox/Liberty Networks, where she was part of the original team that
launched Fox Sports Net in 1996.
