Lime (TV)

Lime TV, formerly known as WISDOM Television, is now defunct as a traditional television network and has instead focused and expanded into new digital media. The current Lime online website offers information and entertainment centered on physical and mental health with a soft focus on organic ingredients, whole foods consumption, mental conditioning through meditation and yoga, and physical fitness. Up until February 2007, Lime's programming was available on certain digital cable and satellite systems (primarily DISH and Comcast Digital). Now, it is available only over the Internet, mobile web, and satellite radio, with a small sampling of Video on Demand features on some cable systems. Like many production companies and internet ventures, Lime also produces several DVD titles. Themes include the Lime Simple Steps. Lime's main slogan is: "Healthy Living with a Twist".

WISDOM Television and Radio was founded in 1999 by William Turner in Bluefield, West Virginia. Turner (no relation to Ted Turner) was an early entrant into the cable and satellite television business. He introduced regional cable television service in Bluefield, West Virginia, area and then expanded into the C-band service (large dish) business with potential exposure in most major US cities. The programming centered on new-age entertainment, alternative medicine, and philosophy.

In later years of operation, particularly after 2003, the channel was at-odds with Christians within the Turner extended family. At this time the network was losing money at an alarming rate which led WISDOM to desperately seek a buyer. No buyer came forward in spite of aggressive efforts by a top flight venture capital firm in California. Viewer Ratings of the channel were estimated in the dozens. Turner never allowed audience measurement and Wisdom was never measured or a part of the Nielsen service since it was a digital-only/C-Band offering with very limited viewership. As the ability to carry channels on cable/satellite networks became tighter in the early 2000s, however, the station became more attractive for purchase than it was in the prior years of operation.

In 2005, the network was acquired by a company led by AOL Co-Founder, Steve Case. The channel was soon renamed and rebranded as Lime TV. The details of Case's acquisition have never been publicly disclosed, but the purchase by Case's company included WISDOM's carriage and distribution contracts with DISH, Comcast, Insight Communications, and Sirius Radio, as well as WISDOM's programming library.

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