Lifetime Reaches New Heights

With a slate of hit original programming, Lifetime Television is continuing to notch up new ratings milestones. World Screen Weekly catches up with JoAnn Alfano, the executive VP of entertainment at Lifetime Networks, about the female-targeted channel’s programming ethos.

After a long delay prompted by legal squabbles, Project Runway finally made its debut on Lifetime Television last week. The show, previously broadcast on Bravo, scored its highest-rated premiere ever in its new home, averaging more than 4.2 million viewers. It was also the highest-rated premiere in the network’s 25-year history, including with women 18 to 34 and adults 18 to 34.

The premiere of Project Runway capped off a series of recent ratings highs for Lifetime, driven by its new original programming slate. The reinvigoration of the female-targeted network is being led by Andrea Wong, who became president and CEO in 2007, and by JoAnn Alfano, an Emmy-winning producer who joined Lifetime in September 2008 to oversee all programming at Lifetime Television and Lifetime Movie Network. "We’ve been really focused on making our programming more contemporary, more real, more relatable to women," Alfano tells World Screen Weekly.

One example of this strategy is Drop Dead Diva, Lifetime’s new dramedy that was renewed for a second season just a few weeks after its premiere. "The thing about Diva is that it is exactly the things I described—it feels very real, very relevant and it feels like the life a lot of women are leading. We haven’t seen this character on television before. It’s such an example of women empowered. It’s about the building of one’s self esteem, and rejecting the superficial stereotypes that come with making fun of plus-sized women."

The show is definitely connecting with viewers—this week’s episode delivered the highest ratings of the season among women 18 to 49 and 25 to 54. In the season to date, the show has averaged almost 3 million viewers.

The revamp of Lifetime’s original drama slate began with Army Wives, which continues to draw loyal viewership for the channel. "In terms of it being the first signature show for Lifetime, it too hits all the tenets I just mentioned. As we put things through a brand filter, it’s about the tribe of women, it’s about the universality of that, and in terms of what these women are going through in their lives, there’s gravitas to it. Our audience really responds. They love these characters and their relationships and marriages and friendships."

Another returning series is Rita Rocks, which, when it premiered last year, was the channel’s first scripted comedy in a decade. "We always look for that modern hook for women and in this case it’s the role of the working mom who is just trying to find a few minutes for herself. That’s what is resonating with our audience."

Next up, in October, is the new series Sherri, starring Sherri Shepherd. "Sherri is immensely popular from The View and she’s also a brilliant comedian," Alfano says. "It’s about a divorced woman taking on single motherhood for the first time, dating for the first time, being in a relationship for 15 years and starting over. It’s based on her own real life. It feels very relevant for our audience, and it’s really funny."

While original series are certainly key to Lifetime’s schedule, TV movies have always been an integral aspect of the grid. "There was a certain perception of a Lifetime movie," Alfano concedes. "Whereas it was about women in peril, now the movies we’re doing are about women empowered."

The strategy, Alfano notes, has paid off; in this year’s Emmy nominations for best TV movie, Lifetime nabbed two nods, for Prayers for Bobby, starring Sigourney Weaver, and Coco Chanel with Shirley MacLaine. "The other three nominees are HBO movies," Alfano notes. "We’re in great company. That’s where we wanted to be. We don’t have HBO budgets…and we’re succeeding in reaching really top-name talent. We have Georgia O’Keefe coming later this year with Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. We had Rosie O’Donnell earlier this year [in America]. We had Joan Cusack [in Acceptance]."

Similarly, Lifetime Movie Network has been raising the profile of its productions, with projects lined up with the likes of Rob Lowe and Gina Gershon.

Rounding out Lifetime’s schedule is a slate of off-network acquisitions, including Frasier, Will & Grace and Reba. In Alfano’s first week on the job she picked up How I Met Your Mother for the 2010 schedule and, more recently, another CBS sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine. This fall, meanwhile, the channel will begin airing Grey’s Anatomy and Medium as daily strips.