Learning Channel Television Network

Prince Andrew's 1986 marriage to Sarah Ferguson may have ended in divorce, but their televised nuptials--a ratings success--had a lasting effect. The royal wedding's huge ratings illustrated a valuable point for TV executives: Young women like to watch real people get married on television. That sparked the idea for the Learning Channel's "A Wedding Story"--a daily half-hour "lifestyle documentary" series that chronicles the days leading to a real-life couple's wedding and the ceremony itself.

"Heaven and hell" is how Eileen O'Neill describes her first year at the helm of TLC, the cable network that is home to the controversial hit reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8." "Heaven" is TLC's spectacular growth over the last 12 months, with its prime-time audience leaping 43% and now pulling in an average of more than 1 million viewers every night.

The Learning Channel's "Windsor Restored" gives members of England's rather beleaguered royal family the opportunity to let down their guard and express their sentiments about Windsor Castle, which was devastated by a fire five years ago on the 45th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Prince Andrew talks about how he pitched in with the 250 firefighters and numerous volunteers to save Windsor's precious treasures.

Cable programmer Discovery Communications Inc. on Tuesday began its march into Hollywood by plucking a veteran TV executive to run its TLC cable channel, which it hopes to turn into a more popular destination for women. The hiring of Angela Shapiro-Mathes, president of Fox TV Studios and a former Walt Disney Co. executive, represents a dramatic departure for the Silver Spring, Md.-based company. Discovery to date has largely operated outside the media power centers of L.A. and New York.

Relying mightily on her powers of imagination, Jeanetta Standefor paces the length of an unremarkable bare box of a dark living room of an equally nondescript condo complex in Pasadena. Though just a week or so into escrow, Standefor already has big plans: "I want to replace that acoustic ceiling," she waves her hand at the "cottage cheese" above. "I'm thinking, I want to do something Mediterranean in this room because that's popular now." She muses, then heads into the next set of rooms.

Kids will always want their MTV for videos and pop culture fads. And yes, they're "watching the Frog" and the flawless beauties on the WB. But when it comes to daytime drama, teenage girls are tuning into TLC. That's right; after a day spent at school, a growing audience is punching the buttons for the Learning Channel.

Suspense and inspiration are two main elements of TLC's show, "Trading Spaces," according to host Paige Davis. The program is a home-decorating show with a twist: Neighbors swap keys and each remakes a room in the other's house. "If you see the rooms 'before,' you definitely want to see the 'after.' There's the suspense of how it's going to turn out and whether the neighbors will like what's been done in their own homes," Davis said.

Financial News Network Inc. and Infotechnology Inc. confirmed Tuesday that they have received several offers for their 51% stake in the Learning Channel Inc., a cable TV network. Analysts said the transaction could bring the company $30 million to $40 million in badly needed cash. FNN and Infotech were said to have received bids last week from five interested buyers, including a partnership of Hearst Entertainment, Capital Cities/ABC Inc. and Viacom Inc.

Cable-TV's Learning Channel will introduce a six-hour block of commercial-free educational programming for preschoolers Dec. 28. Airing weekdays from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m., "Ready, Set, Learn!" will consist of six half-hour series airing twice each day in three-hour packages. The programs are aimed at teaching young viewers educational and social skills. "Ready, Set, Learn!"

Relying mightily on her powers of imagination, Jeanetta Standefor paces the length of an unremarkable bare box of a dark living room of an equally nondescript condo complex in Pasadena. Though just a week or so into escrow, Standefor already has big plans: "I want to replace that acoustic ceiling," she waves her hand at the "cottage cheese" above. "I'm thinking, I want to do something Mediterranean in this room because that's popular now." She muses, then heads into the next set of rooms.

Kids will always want their MTV for videos and pop culture fads. And yes, they're "watching the Frog" and the flawless beauties on the WB. But when it comes to daytime drama, teenage girls are tuning into TLC. That's right; after a day spent at school, a growing audience is punching the buttons for the Learning Channel.

Sonja Teri and Caroline Krabach were your typical "Trading Spaces" fanatics: Caroline would tape the show daily and watch it when she got home. They'd dish about Vern's cool minimalist bedroom makeover or Frank's funky country kitchen redo. They even got their respective boyfriends, Paul Hogan and Chris Wylde, hooked. Then, one day, they crossed the line. They applied to appear on the show. Teri: "We were all sitting around and I said, 'Oh, wouldn't it be funny ...?'

Suspense and inspiration are two main elements of TLC's show, "Trading Spaces," according to host Paige Davis. The program is a home-decorating show with a twist: Neighbors swap keys and each remakes a room in the other's house. "If you see the rooms 'before,' you definitely want to see the 'after.' There's the suspense of how it's going to turn out and whether the neighbors will like what's been done in their own homes," Davis said.

Rocio Calvillo was on summer break from her teaching job when, bored, she started channel surfing. She came upon a show that hooked her like a powerful drug. It wasn't a soap opera, but reality television showing people in excruciating pain, shedding all dignity and overcoming challenges that no man could endure. It was a show about women in labor. Simple enough, as old as time, and yet for Calvillo, there was something entrancing about watching actual births, starring real-life couples.

There's a moment in an upcoming episode of the Learning Channel's four-part series on Children's Hospital of Orange County in which pediatric neurosurgeon Michael Muhonen performs a magic trick. His audience: a little girl, who had undergone the surgical implantation of an electronic device that will prevent her from having seizures.

There's a moment in an upcoming episode of the Learning Channel's four-part series on Children's Hospital of Orange County in which pediatric neurosurgeon Michael Muhonen performs a magic trick. His audience: a little girl, who had undergone the surgical implantation of an electronic device that will prevent her from having seizures.

The Discovery Channel, one of the fastest-growing cable TV networks of the 1980s, said Thursday that it had agreed to buy the Learning Channel. The Learning Channel is the latest asset to be sold in the dismantling of the Infotechnology Inc. and Financial News Network Inc. empire. Infotech and its sister company FNN own 51% of the Learning Channel and are selling assets to repay creditors. The price was not disclosed, but one executive close to the negotiations said Discovery paid $31.5 million.

Prince Andrew's 1986 marriage to Sarah Ferguson may have ended in divorce, but their televised nuptials--a ratings success--had a lasting effect. The royal wedding's huge ratings illustrated a valuable point for TV executives: Young women like to watch real people get married on television. That sparked the idea for the Learning Channel's "A Wedding Story"--a daily half-hour "lifestyle documentary" series that chronicles the days leading to a real-life couple's wedding and the ceremony itself.

The Learning Channel's "Windsor Restored" gives members of England's rather beleaguered royal family the opportunity to let down their guard and express their sentiments about Windsor Castle, which was devastated by a fire five years ago on the 45th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Prince Andrew talks about how he pitched in with the 250 firefighters and numerous volunteers to save Windsor's precious treasures.