E! is a European

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

channel, operated by E! Entertainment Europe B.V. and owned by

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

Sky Group Sky Group Limited is a British media conglomerate, media and telecommunications conglomerate, which is a division of Comcast, and headquartered in London. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Ital ...

. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television and Hollywood gossip and news. E! currently has an audience reach of 600 million homes internationally.

History

E! in Europe before 2004

E! Entertainment Television was founded by

Larry Namer Larry Namer is an entertainment and media entrepreneur of ''Movies USA Magazine''. Biography Namer attended Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn, New York), Abraham Lincoln High School, graduating in 1966. He then attended Brooklyn College, grad ...

and

Alan Mruvka Alan Mruvka (born 1958 in Bronx, New York) is an American entertainment and media entrepreneur, film producer and screenwriter. He created and co-founded ''Movietime Channel'', which later became ''E! Entertainment'' television. He is the Fou ...

in the United States. The network launched on 31 July 1987 as Movietime, a service that aired movie trailers, entertainment news, event and awards coverage, and interviews as an early example of a national

barker channel A barker channel is a form of digital signage, operating in the form of a television channel that is entirely composed of sales promotion and advertising, usually marketing various features of the service carrying the channel. The name is derived f ...

. Three years later, in June 1990, Movietime was renamed E! Entertainment Television to emphasise its widening coverage of the

celebrity–industrial complex The celebrity-industrial complex is a social and economic construct which involves a symbiotic relationship between celebrities and business corporations. First proposed by ''Vanity Fair'' columnist Maureen Orth in her book, '' The Importance of B ...

, contemporary film, television and music, daily Hollywood gossip, and fashion. In the Fall of 1999, Zone Vision launched E! Entertainment in Poland, under a licensing agreement on the Polish digital platform Wizja TV, with Zone's Studio Company providing localized content. The channel was shut down by 2002.

E! enters Europe

In 2002 E! launched in Europe with its headquarters situated in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. One of the first countries E! broadcast in was Germany, where it telecast daily. In the Summer of 2006 E! began localizing in France, Italy and the UK. At the end of 2011 E! launched in HD in Eastern Europe. Followed by The UK and Ireland on 8 October 2012, Germany on 30 April 2013 and other European countries.

Universal Channel and E!’s Closure in Russia

In April 30, 2015, E! was closed during technical problems, along with

Universal Channel Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the thriller, drama, comedy, horror, crime and investigation genres, owned by NBCUniversal International Netwo ...

. E! has localised versions of the same channel, including: * E! (Africa) * E! (Balkans) * E! (Benelux) * E! (France) * E! (Germany, closed) * E! (Greece and Cyprus) * E! (Israel) * E! (Italy, closed) * E! (Poland) * E! (Romania) * E! (Russia, closed) * E! (Serbia) * E! (Slovenia) * E! (UK and Ireland)

Programming

References

External links