Oxygen (branded on air asOxygen True Crime) is an American cable anddigital multicast television network owned by theNBCUniversal Media Group unit ofNBCUniversal, a division ofComcast. The network primarily airstrue crime television series andpolice procedural dramas.

Oxygen

Country	United States
Headquarters	Comcast Building,New York City,New York
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed)
Ownership
Owner	NBCUniversal(Comcast)
Parent	NBCUniversal Media Group
Sister channels	List Bravo CNBC E! MSNBC NBC USA Network Syfy Telemundo
History
Founded	1998; 27 years ago (1998)
Launched	February 1, 2000; 25 years ago (2000-02-01)
Founder	Geraldine Laybourne Oprah Winfrey Lisa Gersh Marcy Carsey Tom Werner Caryn Mandabach
Links
Website	www.oxygen.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television	See§ Over-the-air affiliates
Streaming media
Sling,YouTube TV,fuboTV,DirecTV Stream,Hulu + Live TV
ClaroTV+	(requires subscription to access content) ch.185

The channel launched on February 1, 2000, under the ownership of Oxygen Media, a consortium includingGeraldine Laybourne andOprah Winfrey among other stakeholders. It originally carried a format of lifestyle and entertainment programming oriented towards women. Oxygen Media was acquired byNBC Universal in 2007 for nearly $1 billion, after which the channel began to place a stronger focus on targeting young adult women. After the network experienced ratings successes with a programming block dedicated to such programming, Oxygen was relaunched in mid-2017 to focus primarily on true crime programs and crime dramas.

The channel initially operated as a cable network; in 2022, Oxygen began to also operate as adigital multicast television network on subchannels ofNBC Owned Television Stations. As of November 2023^[update], Oxygen is available to approximately 59,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2012 peak of 80,000,000 households.^[1]

The privately held company Oxygen Media was founded in 1998 by formerNickelodeon executiveGeraldine Laybourne, talk-show hostOprah Winfrey, media executiveLisa Gersh, and producersMarcy Carsey,Tom Werner andCaryn Mandabach (ofCarsey-Werner fame).^[2] Laybourne was the service's founder, chairwoman, and CEO, staying with the channel until the NBCUniversal sale. The company's subscription network Oxygen launched on February 1, 2000.

Oxygen's first headquarters were atBattery Park City inNew York City, near theWorld Trade Center. It was knocked off the air onSeptember 11, 2001; a simulcast ofTime Warner Cable-owned regional news channelNY1 was carried by Oxygen's channel space until the studio reopened within a week after the attack.^[3] Oxygen's operations were later consolidated atChelsea Market, a formerNabisco factory at 15th Street andNinth Avenue in New York City.^[4]

Prior to 2005, the channel carried a limited schedule of regular seasonWNBA games produced byNBA TV. The channel later began to focus chiefly on reality shows, reruns, and movies. For a time during the talk show's syndication run, Oxygen aired week-delayed repeats ofThe Tyra Banks Show. The yoga/meditation/exercise programInhale was the last inaugural Oxygen program on air into the channel's NBC Universal era, albeit in repeats; it was cancelled in 2010.

Campus Ladies,Bliss,Oprah After the Show,Talk Sex with Sue Johanson,The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency,Snapped,Girls Behaving Badly andBad Girls Club, a reality series, were the highlight shows of the network at this time. Oxygen launched with immediateDirecTV carriage, and arrived onDish Network in early 2006 during that provider's carriage conflict withLifetime.

In August 2007, rumors emerged thatNBC Universal had made offers to acquire Oxygen, with the network reportedly recommending thatBravo Media head Lauren Zalaznick lead the network post-acquisition. It was reported that the network had been pursuing offers of at least $1 billion (referred to internally as "BET money", in reference toViacom's earlier acquisition of the channel).^[5] On October 9, 2007, NBC Universal announced it would be acquiring Oxygen for $925 million.^[6]

The sale was completed on November 20, 2007, with Zalaznick appointed head of Oxygen. NBCU cable headJeff Gaspin stated that Oxygen would be marketed to advertisers alongside sister properties targeting an "upscale" female audience, such asBravo,iVillage, andToday. Some of Oxygen's executives departed during the integration, with Laybourne and president of programming Debby Beece both stepping down, and Gersh transitioning to roles at other NBCU divisions (includingThe Weather Channel, and laterNBC News).^[7][8]

In April 2008, during its firstupfronts under NBCU ownership, Oxygen announced a planned rebranding to take effect that June. This would include a new logo and slogan ("Live Out Loud"), establishing women18-49 (with a particular emphasis on a "young, trend-obsessed" women 18–34) as the network's target demographic, and relaunching its website with a larger focus onvideo content from its shows. It also announced upcoming series in development, such asCoolio's Rules andDance Your Ass Off.^[9][10] During the2008 Summer Olympics, Oxygen aired a two-hour block of coverage on weekday evenings as part ofNBC Sports' overall coverage. Oxygen focused primarily on coverage of thegymnastics competitions.^[11][12]

The June 29, 2009 premiere ofDance Your Ass Off was Oxygen's highest-rated series premiere to-date, with an average of 1.3 million viewers.^[13] Ahigh definition simulcast feed launched in March 2011.^[14] On May 21, 2013, the premiere of theBad Girls Club spin-offBad Girls All-Star Battle became Oxygen's highest-rated series premiere to-date, with 1.73 million viewers. With aBad Girls Club: Atlanta reunion special as a lead-in (which drew a series high of nearly 2 million viewers),Nielsen estimated that Oxygen had achieved its highest-rated night of key demographic viewership to-date, and the top two programs on cable that evening.^[15]

Following the acquisition of NBC Universal byComcast and the last-minute replacement of its sister channel Style Network withEsquire Network (which was originally intended to replaceG4) on September 23, 2013, some of its acquired programs were dispersed to Oxygen.^[16]

In April 2014, as part of a gradual re-focusing of NBCU's women's cable networks by new division headBonnie Hammer, and the appointment of Frances Berwick as the head of Oxygen and Bravo, it was revealed that Oxygen would undergo a shift in its programming strategy to focus on a "modern", young female audience. Berwick explained that the new slate, which included upcoming series such asFix My Choir,Funny Girls,Nail'd It,Sisterhood of Hip Hop,Street Art Throwdown, and planned spin-offs ofPreachers of L.A., would "deliver on the freshness, authenticity, high emotional stakes and optimism that this demographic is looking for", and that many of the new programs would "appeal to things that are important in the lives of young, millennial women" and be "authentic".^[17][18] As part of the re-focusing, the network also introduced a new slogan, "Very Real".^[18]

In December 2016, it was reported that NBCUniversal was considering reformatting Oxygen as atrue crime-oriented channel. Since 2015, the genre had seen growing interest, especially among young adult women. The network had introduced a primetime block known asCrime Time on Fridays through Mondays (anchored by series such asSnapped), which had helped Oxygen see a 42% increase in total viewership, and a 22% increase among women 25–54.^[19] NBCUniversal had reportedly been in talks withDick Wolf—producer of NBC'sLaw & Order andChicago franchises—to take an equity stake in a re-branded channel that could be led by reruns of the programs.^[20][21] In January 2017, the network also began a related foray intopodcasting, with the true crime seriesMartinis & Murder.^[22]

In February 2017, NBCUniversal confirmed that it planned to re-format Oxygen with a focus on true crime programming aimed towardswomen. The change was accompanied by a larger re-branding later in the year, with newpolice tape-inspired logo.^[23][24] Oxygen's new lineup was built largely around its existing library of unscripted true-crime programming (such asSnapped), and reruns ofpolice procedurals such as theCSI andNCIS franchises.^[25][19][26] Berwick stated that the network had not determined the fate of the network's non-crime programming, such asBad Girls Club, after the full re-branding takes effect.^[19][26]

During its upfront presentations, Oxygen unveiled other new crime programs that were in development for the upcoming season, such the new Dick Wolf seriesCriminal Confessions, a docuseries on the murder of Jessica Chambers co-produced with NBCUniversal-fundedBuzzFeed,^[24] and a new season of Wolf'sCold Justice (which had been originally cancelled byTNT).^[19][26] In September 2017, Oxygen andUSA Network acquired off-network reruns ofChicago P.D., which were added to their schedules in October 2017.^[27][28]

On October 17, 2024, NBCUniversal announced an agreement withBell Media to launch aCanadian version of Oxygen. The channel launched on January 1, 2025, replacing the similarly-formatted Oxygen competitorInvestigation Discovery, following Bell's loss of rights toWarner Bros. Discovery factual channel brands toRogers Media.^[29]

• Kill or Be Killed
• Buried in the Backyard
• 911 Crisis Center
• Cold Justice
• Dateline: Secrets Uncovered
• Dateline: Unforgettable
• Homicide for the Holidays
• Killer Siblings
• Snapped
• Mark of a Killer
• Final Moments
• Accident, Suicide or Murder
• The Real Murders of Orange County
• The Real Murders of Atlanta
• The Real Murders of Los Angeles
• Blood & Money
• Living with a Serial Killer
• Snapped: Killer Couples
• Twisted Killers
• Floribama Murders
• Fatal Family Feuds
• Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler
• Sin City Murders
• Sins of the South
• Deadly Waters With Captain Lee
• A Plan To Kill
• Philly Homicide

On May 2, 2022,NBC Owned Television Stations began to carry Oxygen as asubchannel ondigital terrestrial television, primarily on NBC andTelemundoowned and operated stations.^[33]

• Official website