Three years ago, the Television Critics Association press tour was buzzing with questions for Ms. Black, the Lifetime president and CEO from Cincinnati, about how the women's channel would survive competition from Oprah Winfrey's new Oxygen channel and a women's channel planned by Turner Broadcasting.

        Fast forward to the summer of 2002, and the Lifetime executives are absolutely giddy, boasting that Lifetime has had the nation's No. 1 prime-time cable ratings for 18 months. Meanwhile, Oxygen has struggled to get distribution, and Turner has pulled the plug on its planned female-oriented service.

        “We didn't know how it was going to go,” says Ms. Black, known as Carole Federle when she graduated from Withrow High School in 1961.

        “Honestly, it helped us,” says the former Disney marketing executive. “It brought tremendous publicity to cable, and brought more women to cable.”

        Lifetime, launched in 1984, ranks ninth among all U.S. cable programming services with 84.6 million households. (Turner's WTBS is tops with 87 million.) Oxygen, started in February 2002, reaches only 32.7 million homes.

        Lifetime is No. 1 in Nielsen ratings with women ages 25-54, 18-49 and 18-34, the demographics many advertisers target. It's also first with working women, says Barbara Fisher, Lifetime executive vice president for entertainment services.

        “Overall, the entire network's ratings are up 16 percent over last year. That's a pretty amazing story,” Ms. Fisher says.

        Lifetime has attracted female viewers with weekday Intimate Portrait profiles (7 p.m.); and original Sunday dramas such as For The People (9 p.m.) starring Lea Thompson, Debbi Morgan and A Martinez; and Strong Medicine (10 p.m.) starring Rosa Blasi and Patricia Richardson.

        At the Oxygen press conference with TV critics, executives admitted that getting cable systems to add their programming, or getting women to find Oxygen in the clutter of cable channels, has been more difficult than anticipated.

        “Half of our homes are brand new to Oxygen (which) means they haven't even found it on their dial yet,” says Geraldine Laybourne, the former Nickelodeon veteran who is chairman, CEO and a founder of Oxygen Media.

        “So far, the name of the game over the next few years is to really figure out how we get attention,” she says.

        One way is to have Oxygen investor Oprah Winfrey do 145 shows this fall season for the channel. Her Oprah After The Show will be taped immediately after her syndicated Oprah Winfrey talk show, letting viewers see the host answer questions from her studio audience.

        The half-hour Oprah After The Show will debut at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16, and repeat at 10 and 11:30 p.m., and 8 a.m. the next day.

        The battle between the two channels intensifies next spring, when Lifetime goes after Ms. Winfrey's O, Oprah Magazine. The newLifetime magazine will arrive on newsstands in April or May, Ms. Black says.

        Both magazines, however, will be published by Hearst, a 50-50 partner in the Lifetime channel with the Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, Disney magazine and a majority stake in ESPN. Hearst also publishes ESPN magazine, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and Esquire, and owns newspapers and TV stations, including WLWT-TV (Channel 5).

        “The partnership works very well for us,” Ms. Black says. “They know how to translate a strong television brand into a magazine.”

        TV Critic John Kiesewetter is reporting from the summer press tour. E-mail: jkiesewetter@enquirer.com

A taste of Ghana in Forest Park
Ask doctor if you're on right menopause medication
KIESEWETTER: Fall television
Don't be shy about light, breezy reds in summer
Ruthai's presents an array of Asian flavors
Salad survives cut in nuts, cheese, oil
Smart mouth
Trade Secrets
Jorma Kaukonen journeys from '20s to '60s and beyond
Body & mind
Get to it