Joan Rivers, the queen of live red-carpet celeb interviews, is set to ankle E! Entertainment TV after eight years to sign a three-year contract with the TV Guide Channel worth up to $8 million -- significantly more lucrative than her contract with E!
The parties declined to comment, but also leaving E! under new deal is Rivers' daughter Melissa, who worked with her doing live pre- and post-show commentary for the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes and Grammys.
The two will do similar live commentary for the TV Guide Channel, but their contract also includes other programming, such as a lifestyle show and various holiday specials.
Deal reps a major roll of the dice by TV Guide Channel, which already does lots of celebrity interviews, many of them surrounding events such as the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys.
But TV Guide Channel's current coverage is taped and replayed as highlights on subsequent days. New plan is to go live and make the Riverses the most prominent personalities on the network.
Adding 11.72 million subscribers in the last year, TV Guide Channel has become the fastest-growing cable network in the U.S.; the recent addition of EchoStar's 9 million subscriber base has pushed TV Guide's total circulation to about 75 million. E! is in 84-million cable- and satellite homes.
A&E was also in the bidding for the Riverses because it's looking to reduce its high number of viewers over age 50, which keep the network's advertising dollars below par. But A&E dropped out as the price escalated.
TV Guide is counting on the armies of young women who dote on Joan Rivers' snarky comments about celebs' clothes and hairstyles to follow her to the TV Guide Channel, transforming it from a listings service to a destination that will keep viewers entertained.
E! tried to negotiate a new contract with the Riverses but couldn't match the aggressive bid of TV Guide. For E!, in addition to red-carpet coverage, Joan Rivers hosted the series "Fashion Police" and in 2001 did "E! True Hollywood Story."
In 1994 Rivers host the nationally syndicated TV show "Can We Shop"; she presided over a nationally syndicated radio show from 1997-2002. She also has a line of products that she sells regularly on the QVC shopping network. (Story courtesy of Variety)
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