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HSN's New Deal

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By RICHARD MULLINS and MICHAEL MESSANO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

It started with 112 electric can openers.

In 1977, radio disc jockey Bob Circosta was hosting a talk show on WWQT-AM 1470 in Clearwater when an advertiser called to say it had run short on cash to pay its bill. Would the station take some Rival-brand can openers instead? Sure, Circosta decided. He went on air to sell the openers, and sold out in an hour.

Sensing an opportunity, the station launched "Suncoast Bargaineers," a five-minute program every day at 2 p.m. By 1982, station owner Lowell "Bud" Paxson had put the show on Tampa Bay's Vision Cable, Channel 52, calling it the Home Shopping Channel, later renamed Home Shopping Network.

Three years later, HSN reached nearly six million homes.

This week, HSN will spin off from its parent company, IAC/InterActiveCorp., and become an independent company. The new HSN will run the TV station in St. Petersburg, plus a collection of catalogs that IAC announced a deal to buy in 2005.

Here are some of HSN's landmark moments:

•1977: Disc Jockey Bob Circosta offers 112 Rival electric can openers for sale on air and sells out in an hour.

•1982: Radio station owner Lowell "Bud" Paxson puts the show on Tampa Bay's Vision Cable, Channel 52 for three hours a day and calls it the Home Shopping Channel.

•1985: The company changes its name to Home Shopping Network and begins televising nationwide, 24 hours a day to nearly 6 million homes in 41 states.

•1986: Home Shopping Network's initial public stock offering is a resounding success as it closes at $42.62 per share.

•1989: After climbing from $3 to $47 per share, HSN stock drops back down between $4 and $5 per share.

•1990: HSN surpasses the $1 billion mark in annual sales for the first time.

•1990: Paxson, president and co-founder of HSN, announces his retirement.

•1991: Paxson is replaced by Robert T. Sutton, former president and chief executive of Media General Inc.'s broadcast division.

•1992: Paxson sells nearly all of his interest in HSN for a total of $68.8 million.

•1993: Liberty Media acquires a controlling interest of HSN from co-founder Roy Speer in a deal worth $152 million.

•1993: HSN and QVC Network Inc. cancel merger talks for the third time since 1990.

•1995: Barry Diller, formerly of QVC Network Inc. and Fox, is named chairman of HSN.

•1996: During the first quarter, HSN reports profit for the first time in two years, and retired U.S. Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf is named to the board of directors.

•1997: HSN purchases a 50.1 percent stake in Ticketmaster and then buys most of Universal Studios' television business for $4.08 billion, which includes the USA Network and Sci-Fi Channel. HSN's name is formally changed to USA Networks Inc.

•1998: USA Networks Inc. completes its acquisition of Ticketmaster by purchasing the remaining 49.9 percent of the company.

•1999: USA Networks Inc. merges its Home Shopping Network and other properties with Lycos Inc. to form the new company USA/Lycos Interactive Networks Inc. HSN.com is launched and is profitable within 3 months.

•1999: HSN expands to Germany and Japan.

•2001: For $33.4 million HSN purchases a home and garden catalog from Hanover Direct Inc.

•2001: USA Networks Inc., the parent company of HSN, sells its entertainment group to French conglomerate Vivendi Universal for $10.3 billion. The new company name is InterActiveCorp.

•2005: InterActiveCorp. acquires leading catalog and online retailer Cornerstone Brands.

•2006: "Shop by Remote" is introduced by HSN, allowing TV viewers to purchase items with their remote control.

•2007: "Shop by Remote" service is launched nationally and HSN.com fully integrates video, making HSN one of the largest providers of video to YouTube.

•August 2008: HSN is spun off from IAC/InterActiveCorp. into a new, independent company.
HSN CELEBRITY PITCH PEOPLE

Vanna White (shoes)

Frankie Avalon (pain relief medication)

U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (music CD)

Omar Sharif (cologne)

Al "The Soup Nazi" Yeganeh, from Seinfeld (soup)

Dennis Rodman (sports merchandise)

Gladys Knight (cookbook)

Nadia Comaneci (fitness equipment)

Kathie Lee Gifford (music CD)

Richard Petty (sports merchandise)

Wolfgang Puck (cookware)

Tribune research by MICHAEL MESSANO

Sources: Home Shopping Network, Tribune archives and wires

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins@ tampatrib.com.

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