E! (European TV channel)


E! is a European pay television channel, operated by E! Entertainment Europe B.V. and owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television and Hollywood gossip and news. E! currently has an audience reach of 600 million homes internationally.

History

E! Entertainment Television was founded by Larry Namer and Alan Mruvka in the United States.
The network launched on 31 July 1987 as Movietime, a service that aired movie trailers, entertainment news, event and awards coverage, and interviews as an early example of a national barker channel. Three years later, in June 1990, Movietime was renamed E! Entertainment Television to emphasise its widening coverage of the celebrity–industrial complex, contemporary film, television and music, daily Hollywood gossip, and fashion.
In the Fall of 1999, Zone Vision launched E! Entertainment in Poland, under a licensing agreement on the Polish digital platform Wizja TV, with Zone's Studio Company providing localized content. The channel was shut down by 2002. In 2002 E! launched in Europe with its headquarters situated in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. One of the first countries E! broadcast in was Germany, where it telecast daily. In the Summer of 2006 E! began localizing in France, Italy and the UK.
At the end of 2011 E! launched in HD in Eastern Europe. Followed by The UK and Ireland on 8 October 2012, Germany on 30 April 2013 and other European countries.
E! has localised versions of the same channel including the UK, Ireland, Benelux, France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Russia. The channels share similar content but with localised advertising and dubbing and/or subtitling. These channels are licensed by Ofcom. Alexander von Roon produces the German version. Melinda Cohen and Sabrina Alashi host.

Programming