E!: Entertainment Television, also called E!, is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. As its name implies, it features programming relating to Hollywood and the entertainment world, though its programming has expanded to include reality series, feature films and some series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.
The network launched on July 31, 1987 as Movietime, a service that aired movie trailers, entertainment news, event and awards coverage, and interviews. Early Movietime hosts included Greg Kinnear, Paula Abdul, Katie Wagner, Julie Moran, Suzanne Kay (daughter of Diahann Carroll), Mark DeCarlo, Sam Rubin and Richard Blade. Three years later, in June 1990, Movietime was renamed E! Entertainment Television[4] to emphasize its widening coverage of the celebrity-industrial complex, contemporary film, television and music, daily Hollywood gossip, and fashion.
E! has an audience reach of 88 million cable and satellite viewers in the U.S. and 600 million homes internationally. E!'s sister networks are the Style Network and G4, along with Comcast's sports networks Versus and Golf Channel. In the case of Versus, E! staff produce that network's Sports Soup, while the Orlando-based Golf Channel features no crossovers with E! at all due to incompatible audiences and operations.
E! Entertainment Television was founded by Larry Namer and Alan Mruvka.