QVC

QVC (an initialism for "Quality, Value, Convenience") is an American cable, satellite and broadcast television network, and multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping that is owned by Liberty Interactive. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, QVC broadcasts to 235 million households in six countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan, QVC Italy, QVC/CNR (China) and, since mid-2015, QVC France.

History

QVC was founded on June 13, 1986 by Joseph Segel. One of the first brands to sign a two-year deal with QVC for its products was Sears. The channel's first live broadcast took place at 7:30 p.m. ET on November 24 of that year, reaching 7.6 million cable television homes; the first item sold was a "Windsor Shower Companion" shower radio, presented by host John Eastman (Bob Bowersox was the first host seen on-screen). The corporation later set a new record for first full-year fiscal sales for a new public company of $112 million.

QVC (UK)

QVC UK is a television shopping channel broadcast in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1993 when QVC, Inc. agreed a deal with Sky TV to create a UK version of the US channel. "QVC — The Shopping Channel" first broadcast in the UK on 1 October 1993.

History

The original US channel was founded in 1986 in West Chester, Pennsylvania by Joseph Segel. It grew into a multinational corporation, specialising in televised home shopping. It now broadcasts in five countries to 141 million consumers. The name is an initialism—standing for Quality, Value, Convenience. However, unlike in the USA, the expansion of the initialism is no longer used on air in the UK.

In 1998 the UK venture turned its first net profit (£12.5 million), against a loss of £228,000 in 1997. Originally 20% owned by Sky, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the US broadcaster in 2004.

In 2008 QVC UK launched a multiscreen video service accessible via the interactive television layer, making four video streams available to Sky viewers via the red button: