Lifetime's Brand Identity Complex

Lifetime is in transition, again. The latest chapter in the network’s search for itself includes a push for younger viewers – a sweet spot for advertisers – and has resulted in a dwindling audience of loyal, older viewers.

The current perception of Lifetime: “‘It’s great for my mom, but I wouldn't watch it.' That has to change," said JoAnn Alfano, Lifetime's executive vice president of programming. "In some ways it's not rocket science. We want to invite all women into the tent and offer a cross-section of programming."

But it’s hard to have a tent that big in television today. The move away from serious dramas and women-in-jeopardy movies – which put Lifetime on the map -- was an attempt to attract new demographic while maintaining loyal viewers.

Lifetime's ad revenue fell 12 percent to $656.8 million in 2009, and the TV-for-women arena is getting crowded. The upcoming launch of Oprah Winfrey's OWN network poses serious competition with programming that empowers women. Oxygen, WE, Style Network and TLC – all catering to women – are all chasing the same audience and advertisers.

And now Chief Executive Andrea Wong, who engineered the "Project Runway" deal, is leaving.

Wong holds the dubious credit of snatching Project Runway from Bravo and getting it on Lifetime after a lengthy legal battle. Although a solid performer for Lifetime, the show has not delivered ratings that justify the $150-million price tag, plus the millions spent on the legal battle for the TV rights.

Yet Wong is credited with Lifetime hitting its digital stride: partnerships with RealArcade and King.com; acquiring dress-up site Roiworld.com as the base for a gaming studio; and putting full episodes of Project Runway online. But digital for Lifetime is not the main event tent.

The women's cable network has struggled for years to change its brand image from plain to glamorous – but in doing so, the prime-time audience shrinkage has taken it out of the top five favorite cable networks among women under 50.

Historically, Lifetime has been a TV stepchild, enduring multiple owners and a reporting structure that requires executives report to a board. "Lifetime is the girl that goes from boyfriend to boyfriend too much," said Susanne Daniels, a former president of entertainment at the network who left in 2008. "Why can't it get married to someone who cares and wants to be in it for the long haul?"

Competition from other networks, "Real Housewives" on Bravo, MTV's "Teen Mom," Showtime's "Nurse Jackie" and TBS "Sex and the City" reruns, are siphoning off Lifetime’s audience. Newer series, "Drop Dead Diva" and "Army Wives," are delivering, but ratings spikes still come from made-for-TV movies like the recent "Pregnancy Pact," which delivered 6 million viewers last month.

Lifetime is once again in an identity crisis: sneakers or stilettos? Hipper and more fashionable or emotionally available? Lifetime is still trying to find itself, and that doesn't exactly appeal to an audience with multiple choices and diverse tastes.