Martha Stewart is going to drop in on TLC.
As part of a multifaceted deal between parent Discovery Communications Inc. and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., TLC will air installments of the homemaking diva’s new syndicated show, Martha, this fall.
Scheduled to launch Sept. 12 in more than 96% of U.S. homes, the syndicated daytime series will encore in a yet-to-be-determined “fringe” slot in the early evening on TLC, according to executives at both companies.
The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, also calls for MSLO to develop a 13-installment original series for one of Discovery’s services and access to library fare from Stewart’s company.
The home-improvement show will focus on six women in transition -- including one getting out of rehab, while another is exiting welfare -- who will be guided by a mentor from a renovation-and-design team selected by the Martha Stewart Living staff. These and other women will transform old edifices, from which they will be able to launch the next chapters of their lives, according to MSLO officials.
Stewart herself is launching the next chapters in her career, which was interrupted by jail and house-arrest stints following her conviction about lying about selling thousands of shares of ImClone Systems Inc. shares.
NBC is slated to premiere The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, a spinoff of the Donald Trump reality show, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
