The Shop at Home Network (more commonly known as just Shop at Home, Shop At Home TV, SATH ) was a television network in the United States Before its acquisition by Jewelry Television in 2006,^[1] The E. W. Scripps Company owned and operated the network from 2002 until 2006, when the network temporarily ceased operations on June 21. The network primarily focused on home shopping programming, as indicated by the name. During Scripps' ownership, some of its programming was done in conjunction with other Scripps channels (such as Food Network).

History[link]

Shop At Home (SATH (Shop At The Home) stock symbol) the concept was started by Joe Overholt in the middle 1980s. Located in a strip mall just off of Interstate 40 in Newport Tn the original programs were taped in segments and mailed to head-end origination studios to be played when time was available. The low budget production was aired over unused satellite transponders to an audience that of individual satellite dish owners. It soon became apparent that these inconsistent excursions would not a shopping channel make. After pulling together some very limited funding from a few local East Tennessee small business men and individuals around Knoxville SAH began the search for affordable satellite distribution time. Plans were being made to take the company public and without securing a means of distribution it would fail. An "available for the right price" transponder was located and an affiliate (and friend) of Overholts entered into negotiations and after much legal and financial wrangling this most important asset was acquired.

Background[link]

The technical difficulties caused by the hills and valleys of East Tennessee and prohibitive cost-per-mile across the vast expanses of the rural flatlands west of the Mississippi had created a pent up demand for television programing. Homeowners many of whom had no access to cable and a minimal number of off-air television channels were looking for a way to receive some of the same programs their urban cousins had access to. Since Overholt and a few others in the Knoxville area were in the process of pioneering the satellite to home backyard dish concept it was logical to search for the programming to go along with it. The first shopping channel (Home Shopping Network) had just appeared out of Florida and this was Tennessee's (SEC anyone ?) response! The ability to reach this entertainment starved market was important to the fledgling experiment and this markets appreciation and monetary encouragement was key to SAH's progress. The beginnings of today's satellite television as an industry began by providing the dish and electronics to receive the signals from satellites in space that coincidentally was the same way that HBO and other entertainment was distributed to cable systems across the country. The Knoxville group that Overholt approached had formed the "Satellite TV Awareness Association" (STAA) a local trade organization that's purpose was to inform citizens and elected representatives to Congress of the issues surrounding the "business" of the new industry. The cable lobby had portrayed back yard dish owners as pirates and accused them of stealing their programming. The STAA (Overholt was a member) and others made it public that offers had been made to the programmers to pay for the product being received but most programmers had refused the "offer to pay". The STAA sought assistance from their elected representatives, of which Al Gore was one, for a fair solution to the problem. Gore was conducting local town hall meetings and had a sympathetic ear for this ground roots movement from his constituents. A few months later when the STAA decided to bring the issues to dish owners they used the same satellite signal to do so. From a rented studio in Nashville they hired a local MC to host a panel of "experts" in the field to answer questions and propose solutions to the dish industries problems. Gore was unable to attend in person but had pledged his support and participated in the event via telephone.

In 1987 the company was taken public as Shop At Home (NASDAQ-SATH) because the stock symbol SAH was already registered. The IPO was a success and "Shop At Home" was born.

1987-2006[link]

Originally, Shop at Home was a regional shopping network based in Newport, Tennessee. In the beginning, it was similar in format to larger national rivals QVC and the Home Shopping Network. However, beginning in 1989, the network pioneered the sale of collectible coins and currency. The success of The Coin Vault (hosted by Robert Chambers^{[disambiguation needed ]} for nearly 20 years) allowed the network to branch out into shows that featured other collectible items during the 1990s, thus setting SAH apart from its peers. The Coin Vault show was Managed by Coin Vault Co-Host, Rob Parsons starting in March 2003. Under Rob's management, The Coin Vault's sales increased from $50 to $90 Million by 2005. Most shopping networks, like QVC and HSN, were primarily targeted at a predominantly female audience, while SAH's collectible-themed shows attracted a mostly male audience.

Popular shows during the 1990s and early 2000s also included The Knife Collector's Show, co-hosted for most of its run by Shawn Leflar and former SAH personality Tom O'Dell, and the Sports Collectibles show, emceed by Don West for a majority of its run. The network also kept an eye on the most popular collectible trends of the late 1990s and early 2000s including shows devoted to Beanie Babies and Pokémon.

During this era, the network's late-night fare developed a cult following due to its hosts' outlandish behavior and loud tone of voice. As a result, the show was parodied several times on Saturday Night Live with Will Ferrell playing Don West.

Starting in 2000, it was thought that SAH's collectibles-based format began to wear off in popularity and most of its management was replaced. The new management switched the network to a more traditional shopping channel format, and as a result, replaced many of its old hosts and brought in new personalities, most notably Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse (The Coin Vault was retained, and remained successful).

Before the network's temporary suspension, it operated 24 hours a day, but ran some taped programming in addition to live broadcasts.

First closure[link]

E.W. Scripps ceased its operations of Shop at Home on June 21, 2006. The company cited difficulties in competing with the larger QVC and HSN. "Going Out Of Business" proceedings began May 22, 2006, when Shop at Home started their Huge Blow-Out-Sale. During this sale, many of their regular items were sold at discounted rates, along with some items that weren't presented on Shop at Home before. Special sale conditions were that credit cards were required, and that all sales were final. The sale ended July 2, 2006; however, a Last-Chance Sale began exactly a week later on June 9, and lasted until the network's closure.^[2]

Employees at Shop at Home were to receive an additional two weeks pay, severance pay, and, if they remained through the network's closure, three months of benefits, such as insurance.^[3]

Resurrection[link]

As the scheduled final days of Shop at Home approached, Jewelry Television announced it would purchase some assets of the network and maintain 100 unspecified jobs in Nashville under its sale agreement. Scripps detailed the sale at $17 million for fixed assets, and noted that Jewelry Television would also assume existing cable and satellite television carriage agreements.^[4]

On June 23, 2006, Shop at Home TV returned to the air with a limited schedule, once again specializing in the sale of various collectible merchandise ranging from collectible gold, silver and rare coins; popular brand name watches like Tag Heuer & Bulova; to unique knives and autographed sports memorabilia.

The original schedule was 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. Eastern time. Kim Church (named Kim Stamper until 2005), Shawn Leflar, Robert Parsons, Elliot Smith, and several other hosts returned.

On September 11, 2006, Shop at Home returned to a full 24-hour on air schedule, returning to selling a variety of products.

Second closure[link]

It was announced on January 8, 2008 that Shop at Home would permanently cease its broadcast on March 7, 2008, again citing its failure to successfully compete with QVC, HSN, and ShopNBC.^[5]

Before its second closure, several long time hosts returned to the show in a "Reunion Month" throughout the month of February.

A couple of the shows have received new life on other networks. The Watch Show and Tim Temple moved to Jewelry Television. Robert Chambers will host a show similar to The Coin Vault on ShopNBC.

Shop at Home went off-the-air on March 8, 2008. The website continues to be active, selling coins, knives, and sports collectables. It also promotes watch sales via Jewelry Television (and, previously, a website branded as part of Jewelry Television rather than Shop at Home, which has since been folded into the main Jewelry Television website), but no longer does so.

Controversy on signed Sports Items Sold[link]

There have been a number of reports that many Mickey Mantle sold items were forgeries. an example of a Mickey Mantle autographed baseball that was sold by Shop At Home TV back in the 1990's; "It is a forgery and Shop At Home sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of similar items according to sports memorabillia fraud busters in a blog on autographmagazine.com forums". ^[6]

Various personalities[link]

Hosts[link]

• Kim Church (formerly Kim Stamper) - later at Jewelry Television and then back at Shop at Home; now a volunteer at HSN
• Nan Kelley - now at Great American Country (GAC)
• Lisa Robertson - now at QVC
• Julie Tello - now at HSN
• Kim Prentiss (as Kim Boyd until 2005) - now at Jewelry Television
• Shawn Leflar -
• Elliott Smith - now an electronics expert at ShopNBC
• Lea Little - Saturday-Wednesday nights and later Wednesday-Sunday nights; later hosted weekly Bella Luce on Jewelry Television and then back at Shop at Home; now a guest product expert on HSN
• Shawn Diddy - later at Jewelry Television; now at ShopNBC
• Robert Parsons - now a Partner at Internet and Mobile Television Applications Network
• Matt Martin
• Chuck Long - now on "The Country Vibe with Chuck & Becca"
• Jennifer Miller - now at Jewelry Television
• Libby Floyd - now a host at ShopNBC
• Nichole Murphy
• Christina Reguli
• Ron Maestri
• Steve Bryant
• Betty Leigh - now at HSN

After the close of Shop at Home, Kim Church and Lea Little moved to HSN, with Lea Little as a guest product expert.

[edit] The Coin Vault

After the close of Shop at Home, The Coin Vault returned to air December 2008 under different ownership. Reuniting two of the former hosts of from Shop at Home, Robert Chambers & Shawn Leflar. The show is now produced only miles from the old Shop at Home studio outside of Nashville, TN.

Hosts of The Coin Vault

• Robert Chambers (formerly of Shop at Home)
• Shawn Leflar (formerly of Shop at Home)
• Scott Houk

Television stations[link]

While Shop at Home was primarily a cable and satellite television network, the network also aired on broadcast television stations in the United States. Until Scripps' sale of the network, five of these stations were owned and operated by Shop at Home itself. In September 2006, Scripps agreed to sell the stations to Multicultural Television Broadcasting LLC for $170 million pending FCC approval;^[7] they dropped Shop at Home programming soon after Multicultural took over. The five stations are:

• WSAH 43 Bridgeport, Connecticut/New York City
• WMFP 62 Lawrence/Boston, Massachusetts
• KCNS 38 San Francisco, California
• WRAY-TV 30 Wilson/Raleigh, North Carolina
• WOAC 67 Canton/Cleveland, Ohio

Other stations remained affiliated with the Shop at Home Network, and are listed below:

• WYLE Florence/Huntsville, Alabama/Decatur, Alabama
• KSVM-LP Santa Barbara, California/Santa Maria, California/San Luis Obispo, California
• WJJA Racine/Milwaukee
• WJYS Hammond, Indiana/Chicago
• KHON-DT2 Honolulu, Hawaii (late night hours only)

Some stations stopped broadcasting Shop at Home before the first closure:

• KZJL Houston, TX

In addition, programming was seen online on the network's website.

Following SAH's first closure, these stations began airing Jewelry Television. Some stations continued to JTV in the late morning and afternoon even after Shop at Home's return to 24-hour programming. WJJA would carry JTV until April 21, when it was purchased by Weigel Broadcasting to carry the Me TV classic television format and became WBME-TV.

References[link]

External links[link]

• sathsite.com (Shop at Home-branded site selling coins, sports collectables, and knives)
• Infamous stabbing of a SAH demonstrator
• Camera demonstrator mistakes photo of butterfly for photo of horse
• Fake Mickey Mantle sold/certed by Shop At Home

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

@Home Network was a high-speed cable Internet service provider from 1996 to 2002. It was founded by Milo Medin, cable companies TCI, Comcast, and Cox Communications, and William Randolph Hearst III, who was their first CEO, as a joint venture to produce high-speed cable Internet service through two-way television cable infrastructure.

At the company's peak it provided high speed Internet service for 4.1 million subscribers in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, and the Benelux nations, operating four joint ventures, three of which were international.

In 1999, the company merged with Excite.

Chief executive officers[link]

• William Randolph Hearst III 1996–1997
• Thomas Jermoluk 1997–2000
• George Bell 2000
• Patti S. Hart 2001–2002

History[link]

The Passing of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 enabled cable companies to start to offer Internet telephony services to customers.

The company's first VP of Engineering and later Chief Technology Officer Milo Medin, the company got its start from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

In December 1998, Excite was in merger negotiations with Yahoo! inc in an agreement to purchase the Excite portal for a price between $5.5 billion and $6 billion. On December 19, at Kleiner Perkins prompting, @Home Network's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Jermoluk met with Excite’s Chairman and CEO George Bell, according to documents filed with the SEC, and a deal was hashed out for the purchase of Excite and its debt.

On January 19, 1999, @Home Networks acquired the Internet portal Excite. The $6.7 billion merger became one of the largest mergers of two Internet companies ever; the combined entity would marry the profitable high speed Internet network of @Home and expand its existing Home.com portal with Excite’s search engine and Internet portal. The combined entity's external name became Excite@Home, however the stock symbol and regulatory filing records remained properly known as At Home Corporation (ATHM).

As a side effect of the deal, @Home’s Chairman and Chief Executive George Tom Jermoluk (also called T.J. for short) stepped down as Chief Executive Officer, but remained Chairman of the board, and Excite’s former Chairman and Chief Executive George Bell who was the President of the Excite division of @Home, moved over as Chief Executive of the new Excite@Home entity.

The new Excite division took the existing @home.com web portal that was provided to subscribers of the service and merged it with the Excite portal. Along with this was the movement toward personalized web portal content, a concept now commonplace in all Internet portals today.

In just months following the merger, Excite@Home's Excite division purchased iMall for about $425 million in stock. Most significant of these was the purchase of the online greeting card company Blue Mountain Arts, Excite@Home issued 11.2 million shares, worth close to $430 million, and paid $350 million in cash. In addition Excite paid for sponsorship of Infiniti IndyCar driver Eddie Cheever, Jr., through the 2000 and 2001 Indy racing seasons for an undisclosed amount.

On June 10, 1999 the @Home cable division announced a joint venture with Australia with Cable & Wireless Optus to form a new company, AtHome Network Australia. The projected homes past for the deal was 2.2 million.

The merger between Excite and @Home fell disastrously short of expectations. The stock which once soared at $128.34 a share in the first quarter of 1999 and had a market cap of $35 billion had fallen to $1 a share by the third quarter of 2001 when the company formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The new Chief Executive George Bell worked from his home in Massachusetts and the Chief Financial Officer Mark McEachen lived in LA, flying in only once per week to the Bay Area to conduct business. Both executives were part of the former Excite executive team. More significantly, expenses ran far ahead of revenues. The burst of the dot-com bubble in March 2000 and the subsequent collapse of the Internet advertising market further limited the company's prospects by making it harder to raise investor money to keep the company afloat in the absence of retained earnings. By 2001, the company was running out of cash.

On September 21, 2000, George Bell stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and reprised his role as President of the Excite division. The stock was trading at $15.38 a share, a drop of 90% of the company's evaluation during his leadership. On April 23, 2001, Patti S. Hart, the former Chief Executive Officer of Telocity joined Excite@Home as its third CEO and @Home's fourth. In the same announcement, the outgoing chairman George Bell resigned and left the company completely. The news was not good as the company also reported a first-quarter net loss of $61.6 million, or 15 cents per share, on revenue of $142.8 million compared with a loss of $4.6 million, or 1 cent, on revenue of $138 million in the same period the prior year.

On June 11, 2001, Excite@home announced what it had raised $100 million in fresh financing from Promethean Capital Management and Angelo Gordon & Co. Part of the deal not widely disclosed was that the loan was repayable immediately if Excite@Home stock was delisted by Nasdaq. The loan, structured as a note convertible into shares of Excite, had an interest rate of zero. The key aspect of the deal was that Promethean gained first dibs on Excite's assets.

By August 20, 2001, @Home fired their auditor firm Ernst & Young, replacing them with PricewaterhouseCoopers. In addition, they received a demand for the immediate repayment of $50 million in debt by bondholders Promethean Capital Management and Angelo Gordon & Co. At the same time, both Cox Cable and Comcast announced that they would separate from the broadband Internet service by Q1 of 2002.

On September 13, 2001, Excite@Home sold Blue Mountain Arts for $35 million to American Greetings, less than 5% of what they had paid less than two years earlier.

On October 1, 2001, the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. The company's remaining 1,350 employees would be laid off over the following months into the first quarter of 2002. As part of the agreement @Home's national high-speed fiber network access would be sold back to AT&T for $307 million in cash. At Home Liquidating Trust became the successor company to Excite@Home charged with the sale of all assets of the former company.

After the company's demise, the four Excite@Home headquarters buildings at 450 Broadway Street in Redwood City, California, were purchased by Stanford University Medical Center, greatly remodeled, and reopened as the new home of the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Clinics in 2009. The shells were largely preserved, but the interiors are completely new, providing facilities that had been unavailable in the Palo Alto location. The buildings, plainly labeled Stanford Medicine, are easily visible from the freeway, U.S. 101, where the buildings labeled Excite@Home had previously been.

Features[link]

Features of the @Home network were fairly standardized from cable provider to cable provider. All users of the service were granted email addresses which were (username)@home.net. Users were also given a special content-rich start-page on the Internet at http://home.excite.com/ which was specifically created for broadband speeds at a time when very few websites on the Internet were geared towards broadband users. Users were also granted access to other Excite websites such as Blue Mountain and their greeting-card by email service. Also as part of the @Home experience, users were provided with a special Excite@Home web browser which was essentially an @Home re-branded version of Internet Explorer with Excite@Home enabled features built within the browser. Additionally, besides the web browser users could also download the Excite@Home powered Instant Messenger, and @Home Assistant desktop widget, which had features like Excite's Search, current news, e-mail notification, and "TuneIn" online radio among other tools at hand.

Cobranded @Home services[link]

• AT&T@Home (formerly TCI@Home before the purchase of TCI by AT&T)
• Charter@Home
• Cogeco@Home
• Comcast@Home
• Cox@Home
• Optimum@Home
• Intermedia@Home
• Rogers@Home
• Shaw@Home
• SusCom@Home
• Optus@Home
• Videon@Home

In total Excite@Home offered services to a total of 16 affiliates across the United States and Canada. This included: Cablevision Systems, Century Communications, Charter Communications, Cogeco Cable, Comcast, Cox Communications, Garden State Cable, Insight Communications, InterMedia Partners, Jones Intercable, Midcontinent Cable, Prime Cable, Rogers Cablesystems, Shaw Communications, Suburban, Susquehanna Communications, and Videon CableSystems with access to over 60 million households.

@Home Benelux BV[link]

In 1999, @Home Network founded @Home Benelux BV, together with Intel Corporation and the (former) Dutch companies EDON NV en Palet Kabelcom B.V. @Home Benelux BV was based in Amsterdam. Later, N.V. Energie-Distributiebedrijf Oost- en Noord-Nederland (EDON) (then called Essent) got full ownership of @Home Benelux BV, and the company was called Essent Kabelcom. In February 2007 Essent sold Essent Kabelcom to private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Cinven, and the company was once again called @Home (now without the 'Benelux'-part). On May 16, 2008, @Home merged with cable providers Casema and Multikabel into Ziggo, thus becoming the largest cable provider of The Netherlands.

Joint ventures[link]

• Cable & Wireless Optus
• Chello
• Excite Chello
• @Work
• @Home Solutions

External links[link]

• @NetHome Japan
• Review: Excite@Home – The Joy Of Broadband Access
• Family feud: Excite@Home, AT&T: A case study in boardroom politics
• All Shook Up over Excite@Home
• Alumni of Excite@Home online

A home network or home area network (HAN) is a residential local area network (LAN)^{[citation needed]} for communication between digital devices typically deployed in the home, usually a small number of personal computers and accessories, such as printers and mobile computing devices. An important function is the sharing of Internet access, often a broadband service provisioned by fiber-to-the-home or via Cable Internet access, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or mobile broadband by Internet service providers (ISPs). If an ISP only provides one IP address, a router including network address translation (NAT), proxy server software and typically a network firewall, allows several computers to share the external IP address. The router function may be assumed by a PC with several network interfaces, but a dedicated router device is more common, often including a wireless accesspoint, providing WiFi access.

Home group[link]

A home group is a feature that allows shared disk access, shared printer access and shared scanner access among all computers and users (typically all family members) in a home, in a similar fashion as in a small office workgroup, e.g., by means of distributed peer-to-peer networking (without a central server). Additionally, a home server may be added for increased functionality.

A Windows HomeGroup is a new feature in Microsoft Windows 7 that simplifies file sharing. All users (typically all family members), except guest accounts, may access any shared library on any computer that is connected to the home group. Passwords are not required from the family members during logon. Instead, secure file sharing is possible by means of a temporary password that is used when adding a computer to the HomeGroup.^[1]

Physical transmission media[link]

Home networks may use wired or wireless technologies. Wired systems typically use shielded or unshielded twisted pair cabling, such as any of the Category 3 (CAT3) through Category 6 (CAT6) classes, but may also be implemented with coaxial cable, or over the existing electrical power wiring within homes.

Wireless radio[link]

One of the most common ways of creating a home network is by using wireless radio signal technology; the 802.11 network as certified by the IEEE. Most products that are wireless-capable operate at a frequency of 2.4 GHz under 802.11b and 802.11g or 5 GHz under 802.11a. Some home networking devices operate in both radio-band signals and fall within the standard 802.11n.

A wireless network can be used for communication between many electronic devices, to connect to the Internet or to wired networks that use Ethernet technology. Wi-Fi is a marketing and compliance certification for IEEE 802.11 technologies.^[2] The WiFi Alliance has tested compliant products certifies them for interoperability.

Existing home wiring[link]

As an alternative to wireless networking, the existing home wiring (coax in North America, telephone wiring in multi dwelling units (MDU) and power-line in Europe and USA) can be used as a network medium. With the installation of a home networking device, the network can be accessed by simply plugging the Computer into a wall socket.

Power lines[link]

The ITU-T G.hn and IEEE Powerline standard, which provide high-speed (up to 1 Gbit/s) local area networking over existing home wiring, are examples of home networking technology designed specifically for IPTV delivery. Recently, the IEEE passed proposal P1901 which grounded a standard within the Market for wireline products produced and sold by companies that are part of the HomePlug Alliance.^[3] The IEEE is continuously working to push for P1901 to be completely recognized worldwide as the sole standard for all future products that are produced for Home Networking.

HomePlug, Universal Powerline Association, HomePNA, HomeGrid Forum

Telephone wires[link]

HomePNA, VDSL, VDSL2

Coaxial cables[link]

DOCSIS, Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), and CWave carry data over coaxial cables, which are frequently installed to support multiple television sets throughout homes.

Network devices[link]

An example of a simple home network

A home network may consist of the following components:

Infrastructure devices[link]

• A modem for connection to an Internet access service (either a DSL modem using the phone line, or cable modem using the cable internet connection).
• A residential gateway (sometimes called a broadband router) connected between the broadband modem and the rest of the network. This enables multiple devices to connect to the internet simultaneously. Residential gateways, hubs/switches, DSL modems, and wireless access points are often combined.
• A wireless access point, usually implemented as a feature rather than a separate box, for connecting wireless devices

Client devices[link]

• A PC, or multiple PCs including laptops, Netbooks and Tablet PC’s
• Entertainment peripherals - an increasing number of devices can be connected to the home network, including DVRs like TiVo, digital audio players, games machines, stereo system, and IP set-top box as well as TVs themselves.
• Internet Phones (VoIP)
• Smart Phones connected via Wifi.
• A network bridge connects two networks together, often giving a wired device, e.g. Xbox, access to a wireless network.
• A network hub/switch - a central networking hub containing a number of Ethernet ports for connecting multiple networked devices
• A network attached storage (NAS) device can be used for storage on the network.
• A print server can be used to share printers among computers on the network.

Older devices may not have the appropriate connector to the network. USB and PCI network controllers can be installed in some devices to allow them to connect to networks.

Network devices may also be configured from a computer. For example, broadband modems are often configured through a web client on a networked PC. As networking technology evolves, more electronic devices and home appliances are becoming Internet ready and accessible through the home network. Set-top boxes from cable TV providers already have USB and Ethernet ports "for future use".

Home networking may use

• Ethernet Category 5 cable, Category 6 cable - for speeds of 10 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s, or 10Gbit/s.
• Wi-Fi Wireless LAN connections - for speeds up to 450 Mbit/s, dependent on signal strength and wireless standard.
• Coaxial cables (TV antennas) - for speeds of 270 Mbit/s (see Multimedia over Coax Alliance or 320 Mbit/s see HomePNA)
• Electrical wiring - for speeds of 14 Mbit/s to 200 Mbit/s (see Power line communication)
• Phone wiring - for speeds of 160 Mbit/s (see HomePNA)
• Fiber optics - although rare, new homes are beginning to include fiber optics for future use. Optical networks generally use Ethernet.
• All home wiring (coax, powerline and phone wires) - future standard for speeds up to 1 Gbit/s being developed by the ITU-T (see G.hn)

Home coverage[link]

Challenges[link]

Wireless signal loss[link]

The wireless signal strength may not be powerful enough to cover the entire house or may not be able to get through to all floors of multiple floor residences.

Wired background noise[link]

One of the largest challenges posed for those that wanted to utilize the home electrical system for networking is how to combat other electrical noise that would be present due to the use of a power outlet to transfer information. Whenever any appliance is turned on or turned off it creates noise that could possibly dissrupt data transfer through the wiring. IEEE products past the HomePlug 1.0 stage have combated this problem and no longer interfere with, or receive interference from, other devices plugged into a power outlet.^[4]

"Leaky" WiFi[link]

WiFi often extends beyond the boundaries of a home and can create coverage where it is least wanted, allowing a way for people to compromise a system and retrieve personal data. The usual way to combat this is by the use of authentication, encryption, or VPN that requires a password to access the WiFi.^[5]

See also[link]

• Domotics
• Home server
• Universal Metering Interface (UMI)

References[link]

External links[link]

• WikiBooks:Transferring Data between Standard Dial-Up Modems

Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli, circa 1971
Born	Liza May Minnelli (1946-03-12) March 12, 1946 (age 66) Hollywood, California, United States
Occupation	Actress, singer, dancer & choreographer
Years active	1949–present
Religion	Roman Catholic[1]
Spouse	Peter Allen (m. 1967–1974; divorced) Jack Haley, Jr. (m. 1974–1979; divorced) Mark Gero (m. 1979–1992; divorced) David Gest (m. 2002–2007; divorced)
Parents	Vincente Minnelli Judy Garland

Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli.

Already established as a nightclub singer and musical theatre actress, she first attracted critical acclaim for her dramatic performances in the movies The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970); Minnelli then rose to international stardom for her appearance as Sally Bowles in the 1972 film version of the Broadway musical Cabaret, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She later made a great star turn in Arthur (1981), co-starring with Dudley Moore (in the title role) and Sir John Gielgud, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Arthur's snobbish but loveable butler.

While film projects such as Lucky Lady, A Matter of Time and New York, New York were less favorably received than her stage roles, Minnelli became one of the most versatile, highly regarded and best-selling entertainers in television, beginning with Liza with a Z in 1972, and on stage in the Broadway productions of Flora the Red Menace, The Act and The Rink. Minnelli also toured internationally and did shows such as Liza Minnelli: At Carnegie Hall, Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event, and Liza Live from Radio City Music Hall.

She starred in Liza's Back in 2002. She had guest appearances in the sitcom Arrested Development and had a small role in the movie The OH in Ohio, while continuing to tour internationally. In 2008/2009, she performed the Broadway show Liza's at The Palace...! which earned a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.^[2]

Minnelli has won a total of four Tony Awards awards, including a Special Tony Award.^[3] She has also won an Oscar, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globes and a Grammy Legend Award for her contributions and influence in the recording field, along with many other honors and awards. She is among the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

Early life[link]

Minnelli was born in Hollywood, California, to Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland.^[4] She attended New York City's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and Chadwick School.^[5] Her first performing experience on film was at age three where she appeared in the final scene of the 1949 musical In the Good Old Summertime. The film starred Garland and Van Johnson.

Minnelli's half-sister and brother from Garland's marriage to Sid Luft are Lorna and Joey Luft. She also has another half-sister, Christiane Nina Minnelli (nicknamed Tina Nina), from her father's second marriage.^[6] Minnelli's godparents were Kay Thompson and Ira Gershwin.

Career[link]

Theatre[link]

During the summer of 1961, Minnelli was an apprentice at the Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis, MA. She appeared in the chorus of Flower Drum Song and played the part of Muriel in Take Me Along. Minnelli began performing professionally at age 17, in 1963, in an Off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward, for which she received the Theatre World Award. The next year, her mother invited Minnelli to perform with her at the London Palladium. She turned to Broadway at 19, and in 1965 she became the youngest woman ever to win a leading actress Tony Award for Flora the Red Menace. It was the first time she worked with the musical duo John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Music[link]

Minnelli began as a nightclub singer as an adolescent, making her professional nightclub debut at the age of 19 at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.. She later appeared in other clubs and on stage in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and New York City. Her success as a live performer led to her recording several albums at Capitol Records: Liza! Liza! (1964), It Amazes Me (1965) and There Is a Time (1966). In her early years, she recorded traditional pop standards as well as show tunes from various musicals that she starred in. Because of this fact, William Ruhlmann named her “Barbra Streisand's little sister”.^[7] The Capitol albums Liza! Liza!, It Amazes Me, and There Is A Time were reissued on the two-CD compilation The Capitol Years in 2001, in their entirety.

Liza Minnelli on Sunset Boulevard 1988.

From 1968 up to the 1970s, she also recorded more contemporary material according to classic pop songs with her albums Liza Minnelli (1968), Come Saturday Morning and New Feelin' (both 1970) from A&M Records. She released The Singer (1973) and Tropical Nights (1977) from Columbia Records.

In 1989 Minnelli collaborated with Pet Shop Boys on Results, an electronic dance-style album. The release hit the top 10 in the UK and also charted in the US, spawning four singles: Losing My Mind; Don't Drop Bombs; So Sorry, I Said; and Love Pains. Initially released on VHS titled Visible Results, the clips were later issued on a bonus DVD included in the 2005 remastered and expanded edition of the album. Later that year she performed Losing My Mind live at the Grammys ceremony before receiving a Grammy Legend Award (the first Grammy Legend Awards were issued in 1990 to Liza Minnelli, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Smokey Robinson and Willie Nelson). With this award, she became one of only 12 other entertainers – in a list that includes Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand and Mel Brooks among others – to win an Emmy, Grammy, Tony Award and Academy Award.^[8]

In April 1992 Minnelli performed We Are The Champions with the surviving members of the rock band Queen at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

In 1996, Minnelli released a new studio album titled Gently. It was a recording of jazz standards and also included some contemporary songs such as the cover of Does He Love You which she performed as a duet with Donna Summer. This album brought her a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. Minnelli was nominated in 2009 for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her studio recording Liza's at the Palace...!, based on her hit Broadway show.

In May 2010, Playbill.com reported Minnelli would be releasing an album on the Decca Records label entitled Confessions, which was released on September 21, 2010.^[9]

In 2006, Minnelli appeared on My Chemical Romance's album The Black Parade, providing backing vocals and singing a solo part with Gerard Way on the track "Mama".

Film[link]

Her first appearance on film is as the baby in the very last shot of her mother's film, In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her first credited film role was as the love-interest in Albert Finney's only film as director and star, Charlie Bubbles (1967).

In 1969 she appeared in Alan J. Pakula's first feature film, The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), as “Pookie Adams”, a needy, eccentric teenager. Her performance won her her first Academy Award nomination. She played another eccentric character the following year in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, directed by Otto Preminger.

Liza Minnelli in her 1972 concert special Liza with a 'Z'.

In 1972, Minnelli appeared in perhaps her best-known film role, as Sally Bowles in the movie version of Cabaret. She said that one of the things she did to prepare was to study photographs of classic actresses Louise Glaum and Louise Brooks and the dark-haired ladies of that time.^[10] Minnelli won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance, along with a Golden Globe Award. This made her the only Oscar-winning child of Oscar-winning parents.

Following the success of Cabaret, Bob Fosse and Minnelli teamed up for Liza with a ‘Z’. A Concert for Television, a made-for-television special. The program aired two times on TV and was not seen again until a DVD release in 2006.

Minnelli worked with her father in the 1976 A Matter of Time, costarring Ingrid Bergman. After severe editing and cutting, done by the studio, with no input from Vincente, the film was neither a commercial nor a critical success^{[citation needed]} .

Her appearance opposite Robert De Niro in the 1977 musical drama film, New York, New York however, gave Minnelli her best known signature song. Frank Sinatra released a successful cover version (for his Trilogy: Past Present Future album) two years later and used it as his signature song as well, sometimes even duetting with Minnelli live on stage.

After her performance as leading woman to Dudley Moore in 1981's hit film Arthur, Minnelli made fewer film appearances although she returned to the big screen in 1988 for Arthur 2: On the Rocks and in 1991 for Stepping Out, a musical dramedy.

Most recently she made an appearance in the movie Sex and the City 2 (2010) as herself.

Television[link]

During the early days of television in the 1950s Minnelli appeared as a child guest on Art Linkletter's show and in 1959 sang and danced with Gene Kelly on his first television special. She was a guest star in one episode of the popular Ben Casey television series starring Vince Edwards and was a frequent guest on chat shows of the day including numerous appearances on shows hosted by Jack Paar, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Joe Franklin, Dinah Shore and Johnny Carson. During the 1960s she made several guest appearances on Rowan & Martin's Laugh In as well as other variety shows including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace, as well as The Judy Garland Show. In 1964 she appeared as Minnie in her first television dramatic role in the episode "Nightingale for Sale" on Craig Stevens's short-lived CBS series, Mr. Broadway.

Recently, Minnelli has made guest appearances on such shows as Arrested Development, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Drop Dead Diva. In the UK she has appeared on the Ruby Wax, Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross shows and in October 2006 participated in a comedy skit on the Charlotte Church Show and was featured on the Michael Parkinson Show. Set to be a guest judge on Australian Idol 2009 on the October 18, 2009. She appeared on The Joy Behar Show of September 1, 2010.

In November 2009, American Public Television aired "Liza's at the Palace", taped from September 30 – October 1, 2009 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre.^[11] The executive producers of the taping, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, previously were involved with the 2005 rerelease of 1972's Emmy and Peabody Award winning "Liza with a 'Z'".^[12]

She is currently scheduled to appear in the hit show Hot in Cleveland.

Later career[link]

Performing Liza's Back live in 2002.

She returned to Broadway in 1997, taking over the title role in the musical Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews. In his review, New York Times critic Ben Brantley commented, “her every stage appearance is perceived as a victory of show-business stamina over psychic frailty. She asks for love so nakedly and earnestly, it seems downright vicious not to respond.”

After a serious case of viral encephalitis in 2000, doctors predicted that she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair and would perhaps not even be able to speak again. However, she refused to accept this and with the help of vocal and dance lessons (most notably Sam Harris, Angela Bacari), which she still takes daily, managed to recover and returned to the stage in 2001 when asked by long time friend Michael Jackson to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City where she sang "Never Never Land" and the televised "You Are Not Alone" at the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special concert produced by soon to be husband David Gest. Gest was so impressed with her stamina and ability to stun audiences that he produced her in Liza's Back in spring 2002 performing to rave reviews in London and New York City. (Most noted in that tour was a tribute to her mother. After years of declining fans' pleas for her to sing Garland's signature song, "Over The Rainbow", she concluded Act 1 with the final refrain of her mother's famous anthem, to an instant ovation.) Among performing her classic hits, other numbers unreleased in the album version included "I Believe You" by The Carpenters, a rap version of "Liza With A 'Z'", "Yes", and Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair".

In 2004 and 2005 she appeared as a recurring character on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning TV sitcom Arrested Development as “Lucille Austero”, the lover of both the sexually and socially awkward “Buster Bluth” and Buster's brother “GOB”.

Liza Minnelli at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival premiere of Elizabethtown, photo by Tony Shek.

In September 2006, she made a guest appearance on the long-running NBC drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in Masquerade, a Halloween-themed episode, broadcast on Tuesday, October 31, 2006.^[13] She also completed guest vocals on My Chemical Romance's 2006 concept album The Black Parade, portraying “Mother War”, a dark conception of the main character's mother, in the song Mama.

For years, Minnelli had wanted to record a collection of songs that her godmother Kay Thompson had performed in her nightclub act.^{[citation needed]} In 2007, she added some of Thompson's songs to her latest tour to introduce them to audiences.

Minnelli returned to Broadway in a new solo concert at the Palace Theatre called Liza's at The Palace...! which ran from December 3, 2008, through January 4, 2009.^[14][15] In her second act she performed a series of numbers created by Kay Thompson.^[16] The reviews noted that while her voice was ragged at times, and her movements no longer elastic, the old magic was still very much present—from first to last, Minnelli had audiences cheering and applauding and begging for more. The show was subsequently staged at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on September 30 and October 1, 2009, at which time it was filmed for broadcast on public television and a February 2010 DVD and Blu-ray release.

On January 10, 2009, Minnelli made a rare live TV appearance in a surprise cameo on NBC's Saturday Night Live, playing the best friend of “Penelope” (Kristin Wiig). On January 26, 2009, she made an appearance on The View, singing "I Would Never Leave You" (written by Johnny Rodgers, Billy Stritch, and Brian Lane Green) from her new CD Liza's at The Palace...!. She was also interviewed by the cast of The View.

She was a character in the Australian musical The Boy from Oz starring Hugh Jackman. In the show's Broadway production, she was portrayed by Stephanie J. Block.

In October 2009, Minnelli toured Australia, and appeared on Australian Idol as a mentor and guest judge.

In February 2010, Minnelli appeared in a Snickers commercial along with Aretha Franklin and Betty White.

Minnelli made a cameo appearance in the May 2010 release of Sex and the City 2.

She also made a starring appearance in December 2010 in NBC's The Apprentice.

Personal life[link]

Marriages[link]

Minnelli has been married (and divorced) four times. Her first marriage was to Peter Allen (full name Peter Allen Woolnough) on March 3, 1967.^[17] Australian-born Allen was Judy Garland's protégé in the mid-1960s.^[18] They divorced on July 24, 1974.^[19]

Later that year, she married Jack Haley, Jr., a producer and director, on September 15, 1974.^[20] His father, Jack Haley, was Garland's costar in The Wizard of Oz. They divorced in April 1979.^[21]

Minnelli was married to Mark Gero, a sculptor and stage manager, from December 4, 1979 until their divorce in January 1992.^[22]

She was married to David Gest, a concert promoter, from March 16, 2002, until they divorced in April 2007. (They separated in July 2003.)^[23][24]

Minnelli also had a relationship with Desi Arnaz Jr., the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.^[25][26]

Minnelli has no children; one pregnancy left her with a hiatal hernia as a result of the medical steps taken to try to save the baby.^[6]

Philanthropy[link]

Minnelli has, throughout her lifetime, served various charities and causes which she considers very important. She served on the board of directors of The Institutes for The Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) for 20 years, a nonprofit educational organization that introduces parents to the field of child brain development. She has also dedicated much time to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. In 2007, she stated in an interview with Palm Springs Life magazine, “AmfAR is important to me because I’ve lost so many friends that I knew [to AIDS]”.^[27] In 1994, she recorded the Kander & Ebb tune "The Day After That" and donated the proceeds to AIDS research. That same year she performed the song in front of thousands in Central Park at the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Filmography[link]

Television movies[link]

• The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood (1965)
• The Princess and the Pea (1984, episode of the television anthology Faerie Tale Theatre)
• A Time to Live (1985)
• Sam Found Out: A Triple Play (1988)
• Parallel Lives (1994)
• The West Side Waltz (1995)
• Arrested Development (2003–2005)

Specials[link]

• Judy and Liza at the Palladium (1964, with Judy Garland)
• Liza (1970)
• Liza with a ‘Z’. A Concert for Television (1972)
• Love from A to Z (1974, with Charles Aznavour)
• Goldie and Liza Together (1980, with Goldie Hawn)
• An Evening with Liza Minnelli (1980)
• Liza in London (1986)
• Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente (1987, documentary)
• Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event (1989, with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.)
• Liza Live from Radio City Music Hall (1992)
• Liza & Friends: A Tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr. (1993, with Charles Aznavour, Tom Jones, Jerry Lewis, and Cliff Richard)

Discography[link]

Stage productions[link]

Liza Minnelli, in 1993, visiting the tomb of Eva Perón. In the early 1980s, Minnelli was in the running for the role of Evita.

• Wish You Were Here (1961) (Hyannis, Massachusetts)
• Take Me Along (1961) (Hyannis, Massachusetts)
• Flower Drum Song (1961) (Hyannis, Massachusetts)
• The Diary of Anne Frank (1961–1962) (Tour)
• Best Foot Forward (1963) (Off-Broadway)
• Carnival! (1964) (Paper Mill Playhouse)
• Time Out For Ginger (1964) (Bucks County Playhouse)
• The Fantasticks (1964) (Tour)
• Flora the Red Menace (1965) (Broadway)
• The Pajama Game (1966) (Tour)
• Liza (1974) (one woman show, Broadway)
• Chicago (1975) (replacement for Gwen Verdon from Aug–Sep. 1975, Broadway)
• The Act (1977–1978) (Broadway)
• Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? (1978) (guest appearance, Off-Broadway)
• The Owl and the Pussycat (1978–1979) (Martha Graham Ballet/London and Lincoln Center/New York City)
• By Myself (1983) (one woman show, Los Angeles and London)
• The Rink (1984) (Broadway)
• Love Letters (1994) (Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami)
• Victor/Victoria (1997) (vacation replacement for Julie Andrews, Broadway)
• Minnelli on Minnelli (1999–2000) (concert show, Broadway, Palace Theater)
• Liza's Back! (2002) (concert show, New York and London)
• Liza's at the Palace...! (2008–2009) (concert show, Broadway, Palace Theater)

Awards and honors[link]

Film awards[link]

Academy Awards^[28]

• 1970 nominated: Best Actress in a Leading Role(The Sterile Cuckoo)
• 1973 won: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Cabaret)

Minnelli has the distinction of being the only Academy Award winner whose parents were both Academy Award winners (her father won as Best Director for Gigi and her mother received an honorary Oscar for The Wizard of Oz).

British Academy of Film and Television Arts^[29]

• 1971 nominated: Film Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles (The Sterile Cuckoo)
• 1973 won: Best Actress (Cabaret)

Golden Globe Awards^[30]

• 1970 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (The Sterile Cuckoo)
• 1973 won: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Cabaret)
• 1976 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Lucky Lady)
• 1978 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (New York, New York)
• 1982 nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Arthur)

Television awards[link]

Emmy Awards^[31]

• 1973 won: Outstanding Single Program – Variety and Popular Music (Liza with a 'Z'. A Concert for Television)
• 1973 nominated: Outstanding Achievement by a Supporting Performer in a Variety Show or a Special (A Royal Gala Variety Performance)
• 1980 nominated: Outstanding Variety or Music Program (Goldie and Liza Together)
• 1987 nominated: Outstanding Informational Special (Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente)
• 1993 nominated: Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (Liza Live from Radio City Music Hall)

Golden Globe Awards^[32]

• 1986 won: Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (A Time to Live)

Recording awards[link]

Grammy Awards

• 1997 nominated: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance (Gently)
• 2010 nominated: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (Liza's at The Palace...!)

Grammy Hall of Fame Award

• 2008 inducted (Cabaret. Original Soundtrack Recording)

Grammy Living Legend Award

• 1990 won: Grammy Living Legend Award for Contributions and Influence in the Recording Field^[33]

Stage awards[link]

Drama Desk Awards

• 1984 nominated: Outstanding Actress in a Musical (The Rink)
• 2009 won: Drama Desk Special Award for “her role as a beloved American musical theater icon, for her enduring career of sustained excellence, and her glorious performance in Liza's at The Palace...!”^[34]

Independent Theatre Reviewers Association

• 2009 won: Best Female Theatrical Performance (Liza's at The Palace...!)

Theatre World Award

• 1963 won: Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut (Best Foot Forward)

Tony Awards^[35]

• 1965 won: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Flora the Red Menace)
• 1974 won: Special Tony Award for “adding lustre to the Broadway season”
• 1978 won: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (The Act)
• 1984 nominated: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (The Rink)

The show Liza's at The Palace...! itself won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event in 2009.^[36]

Miscellaneous Honors[link]

Hasty Pudding Theatricals^[37]

• 1973: Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation^[38]

• 2005: Vanguard Award, for “her contributions to increased visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community”

Mercy College (New York)^[39]

• 2007: Honorary Doctorate, “for her charitable activities and a career that has spanned five decades and multiple genres”^[40]

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays^[41]

• 2010: Straight for Equality in Entertainment Award, for “her lifelong support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.”

Other appearances[link]

Minnelli appears in the song "Mama" on the My Chemical Romance album The Black Parade. She added her vocals to the song from a separate studio while members of the band listened via satellite.

See also[link]

• List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Leigh, Wendy (1993), Liza: Born a Star. E. P. Dutton
• Mair, George (1996), Under the Rainbow: The Real Liza Minnelli. Carol Publishing
• Schechter, Scott (2004), The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook. Kensington Books/Citadel Press * See Free Preview at Amazon.com
• Spada, James (1983), Judy and Liza. Doubleday

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Liza Minnelli

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Liza Minnelli

• Liza Minnelli at the Internet Movie Database
• Liza Minnelli at the Internet Broadway Database
• Liza Minnelli at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Liza Minnelli at AllRovi
• Official Minnelli Site
• Liza Minnelli at Yahoo! Movies
• Liza Minnelli at TVGuide.com