Diginet Style will breathe new life into the beleaguered Martha Stewart television empire through a three-year deal to telecast the disgraced style diva’s syndicated show.
The Comcast Corp.-owned Style will strip Omnimedia Inc.’s Martha Stewart Living series weeknights in primetime beginning this month, according to Style senior vice president of programming Stephen Schwartz.
The show will air at 8 p.m., and at noon, 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. The E! Entertainment Television spin-off also has the option of acquiring over 1,000 additional hours of programming from Martha Stewart Omnimedia.
In addition, the 35 million-subscriber service will also air four wedding-based original series sans Stewart, according to Schwartz.
The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, comes as Stewart awaits sentencing on July 15 following her conviction in a U.S. court on obstruction of justice charges earlier this year, for lying about a questionable stock sale.
Still, Schwartz believes that fans of the show will tune in to Style’s plays of Living.
“Aside from whatever else has gone on, Martha is an iconic figure in terms of style and home decorating and personal style, and that’s what we’re all about,” Schwartz said. “The body of her work is just incredible and is a perfect fit for the Style network.”
Martha Stewart Living will remain in syndication through September, before airing exclusively on Style.
“I think Martha has an incredible fan base, and we’re going to be the only place to see her on television after September,” Schwartz said. “It’s going to bring new viewers to our network and I think her fans are loyal and they want to see her.”
