.svg) | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Comcast Building,New York City,New York |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Versant (Comcast) |
| Parent | NBCUniversal Media Group |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1998; 27 years ago (1998) |
| Launched | February 1, 2000; 25 years ago (2000-02-01) |
| Founder | |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| 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)
|
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.
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 byNBCUniversal 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. Oxygen is among the NBCUniversal channels to be spun off intoVersant in 2025.
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 million pay television households in the United States, down from its 2012 peak of 80 million households.[1]
The privately held company Oxygen Media was founded in 1998 by formerNickelodeon executiveGeraldine Laybourne, talk-show hostOprah Winfrey, media executiveLisa Gersh, andCarsey-Werner producersMarcy Carsey,Tom Werner andCaryn Mandabach.[2] Laybourne was the company's founder, chairwoman, and CEO, remaining 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. During theSeptember 11 attacks, the network temporarily went off the air; 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.
Several original reality series targeting women also aired on the network, includingCampus Ladies,Bliss,Oprah After the Show,Talk Sex with Sue Johanson,The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency,Snapped,Girls Behaving Badly andBad Girls Club. Oxygen launched with immediateDirecTV carriage at launch, and was added toDish Network in early 2006, during that provider's carriage conflict withLifetime.
In August 2007, rumors emerged thatNBCUniversal 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, including Laybourne and president of programming Debby Beece, with 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 women 18-49 (with a particular emphasis on "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 several 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 at the time, 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 moved to Oxygen.[16]
In April 2014, as part of a gradual refocusing 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 refocusing, the network also introduced a new slogan, "Very Real".[18]
In December 2016, it was reported that NBCUniversal was considering rebranding 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 rebranded 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 reformat Oxygen with a focus on true crime programming aimed towardswomen. The change was accompanied by a larger rebranding later in the year, with a 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 its non-crime programming, such asBad Girls Club, after the full rebranding took effect.[19][26]
During its upfront presentations, Oxygen unveiled other new crime programs that were in development for the 2017–2018 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]
In November 2024, Comcast announced its intent to spin off most of NBCUniversal's cable properties (including Oxygen) into a new public company, now known asVersant.[29][30][31][32][33]
On October 17, 2024, NBCUniversal announced an agreement withBell Media to launch aCanadian version of Oxygen on January 1, 2025; the channel formerly operated as a Canadian version of Oxygen competitorInvestigation Discovery before itsWarner Bros. Discovery factual channel brands rights expired and moved toRogers Media.[34]
On May 2, 2022,NBC Owned Television Stations began to carry Oxygen as asubchannel ondigital terrestrial television, primarily on NBC andTelemundoowned and operated stations.[38]
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