Shop at home TV is folding

bri wrote:
"stonej" wrote in message
oups.com...

Say goodbye to the Coin Vault.



The long-struggling Shop At Home Network, the television broadcast
filmed in Nashville, is going dark.

The E.W. Scripps Co., which began investing in the network four years
ago, announced this morning it would cease operations for both the
television programming and Web site June 22, amid ongoing operating
losses and the lack of a suitable buyer.




The network has 660 full-time employees in Nashville. A Scripps
spokesman had earlier given a smaller number for the size of the
Nashville workforce. The company said employees would get severance
packages and career transition services.

Cincinnati-based Scripps had announced earlier that it was shopping the
network, looking for a buyer.

"This is not the outcome we had hoped for when we acquired Shop At
Home nearly four years ago," Kenneth W. Lowe, president and chief
executive officer for Scripps, said in a statement. "Despite the best
efforts and fine work of many dedicated people, Shop At Home was unable
to surmount some fundamental weaknesses that have blocked its path to
profitability. I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to all of those
who did their best to make this idea work."

In previous statements, company officials had cited difficulty reaching
the homes of Americans for the fourth-ranked home shopping TV network,
which goes up against top-ranked QVC and other home shopping television
outlets.

The company also said the path to profitability was taking longer than
expected.

The E.W. Scripps Co. bought Nashville-based Shop At Home Inc. from
shareholders in two transactions valued at $285 million, starting four
years ago. It bought complete control of the network two years ago.

The network was operating at a loss when Scripps bought it, and it
continued to lose money. Shop At Home has lost $84 million during the
last four years.

Executives said five Shop At Home-affiliated television stations would
be sold and that programming alternatives were being explored. Those
stations are in the San Francisco, Boston, Cleveland, Bridgeport,
Conn., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. markets. They reach about 5 million
households.


If someone wanted to be sucessfull at selling coins on TV they should be the
cheapest place to get coins from not the other way around. Especially if you
had a national audience to deal with. You won't even see that many buyers
come walking by a store during peak shopping times compared to how many
potential people will be seeing a national TV show. Even at 4 am on a
weeknight.


But remember

Shopathome and Shopathometv are two seperate operations.

But remember

Shopathome and Shopathometv are two seperate operations

That was my first thought too, even after having read the article, but
that's why I wrote the source. I played the heart-broken customer
routine, and got the whole story.

I've reposted their reply below, but if I would never buy from these
networks under ideal circumstances, the last thing I would ever do is
submit to an invitation under these.

That means I'm really enjoying this, because it's not just the natural
sense of gratification I feel whenever something obnoxious is deposed,
I get to laugh at all the saps who have active accounts!

================================================== ===============
As you can imagine, everyone at Shop At Home is disappointed that the
company will close as of June 30. We will be having some great sales
as we approach the end of June; I believe the last day of programming
will be June 22.

An official announcement was made yesterday morning. The customer
accounts will be closed, and any exchanges, refunds, and ongoing
business will complete. Orders placed 6/22/06 will be sent; and orders
during our clearance sales will be will be "final sales" that cannot be
returned.

Thank you for your interest.

Thank you for contacting Shop At Home.

XXXXXXXXX
Electronic Service Agent