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This section of the web site is devoted to host sightings. Where oh where has your favorite host gone?

NEW MOVES

Our sources tell us that the Liquidation Channel has just hired two new, experienced hosts, both of whom have been with other shopping channels in the past. That is all that we know at this early juncture about this information.

Veteran host and all-around good guy Skip Connelly has now moved on from Jewelry Television to ShopNBC in Minnesota. Skip is a very dear friend of mine, and has spent many years in the Twin Cities, so he and his wife are going home. We here at Dan Dennis Dot Com wish them both all the luck in the world. Check him out sometime on ShopNBC.

Speaking of ShopNBC, some former hosts are now guest hosts there representing all kinds of products. Fan favorites such as Carmella Richards, Laura Duffek, Anne Lynch and Terri Lewis among others can be seen over there now.

Former Jewelry Television host Tim Temple has moved on and is now selling watches and other things as a host for ShopNBC in Minneapolis. Good luck Tim!

Michele Lau has moved on from the now defunct GemsTV to Jewelry Television in Knoxville, TN.


GEMS TV CLOSES, MANY HOSTS LOSE JOBS

As we are well aware by now, GemsTV recently closed their doors, leaving quite a few of your favorite hosts out of work. If you spot any of them in another position, or on another network, please alert me by email, and I will be happy to post the good news for everyone to celebrate!

POSH TV OPENS IN RENO (SOUND FAMILIAR?)
Another new network has opened in Reno, Nevada, in the same studios that were vacated last year by the closing of GemsTV. PoshTV, apparently selling upscale goods primarily, is available via DirecTV only at this point. Karen Connelly and a couple of other former GemsTV hosts have found work there, but for how long remains the question.


BIG CHANGES CONTINUE AT SHOPNBC

The wheels never seem to stop turning here. With former QVC people now at the helm, changes abound again. New department heads in the host group and purchasing are in place, and the company is showing some signs of stability. The question is: for how long? We've been down this road before, and the same problems that dogged them in the past continue to haunt them to this day: who are they? What kind of a network do they want to be? I suppose, only time will tell. Read my comments below for further opinion.

SUZANNE SOMERS JOINS SHOPNBC

In what has been called the biggest news to impact the home shopping industry in quite awhile, celebrity guest host Suzanne Somers has left the Home Shopping Network and is moving her lines to ShopNBC. Is this a big win for the network? I would say "definitely, yes." No matter how much merchandise Suzanne sells, just having her on ShopNBC speaks volumes for the networks' stability and credibility, something ShopNBC needs right now more than anything else on this planet. Suzanne has built a huge, loyal following at HSN, and since ShopNBC's viewers are basically the same as HSN's viewers, although not as many in numbers, this should bring a boost to ShopNBC.

MY COMMENTS

I look at this from two separate ways: a business perspective, and a personal perspective as well.

It is never a good thing for any industry when a competitor, particularly a large competitor like ShopNBC, the nation's third largest, goes under. It is no secret that they were, and as of this writing, still are walking that fine line. However, they appear to be turning a corner, and I hope they make it, so that the public does not lose confidence in the medium.

Personally, I have many friends that work at ShopNBC, who would all lose their jobs if the network falters. In an industry that is hard to break into or find work that would be a serious problem for all of them. I hope for all of them as well, that the network continues to make the right moves.

I only hope it is not too late.

I have contacts on the inside at all the various networks, ShopNBC included, so when you see something here, you can take it as gospel. You may hear rumours floating around prior to seeing the news on my site, but I check all my sources first, so as to be sure of its' accuracy. Every word that you have just read is 100% true as of this writing.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS:

Christian Schmidt, Dionne Ross and Stacy Weaver are now all guest hosts at the Liquidation Channel in Austin, where yours truly is employed. 

Former Amazing Race competitor Brooke Roberts is now selling jewelry with a network out of Atlanta. I wonder if it will be just a matter of time before she ends up in Hollywood. :-)

HSN-ex hosts continue to dominate the infomercial market. Familiar faces like Bob Circosta, Mel Arthur, Tom Wise, Mindy McCortney, Terri Toner Wise, Brian Heider and others can be seen all over the dial. Throw in live guests like Alice Cleveland and Stella Riches, you have enough to staff an entire new network! 

If you know of a host (or two) that has recently turned up in a new area and would like to share that with all of your friends here at Dan Dennis Dot Com, we ask you to please send us an email with your information. We will then collate it and put it up on the web site in this area for all to see. Let's share our knowledge with others and have some fun besides!

Send your information to: ddennis@dandennis.com