• by Charlene Weisler , Op-Ed Contributor, June 6, 2013

Bank clerk T.S. Eliot wrote poetry at night. There are many of us who, like Eliot, “bleed between two lives”: left brain by day, right brain by night. But then there are those fortunate people at Ovation who are surrounded by art as part of their corporate experience every day.

Ovation, in a soft relaunch, is emerging to be the one media company that recognizes that art is everywhere, embracing ballet, opera, street art, food, tattoo, home design, fashion, literature and cinema. When you think of it, “art networks” have preceded Ovation but they eventually decide to mainstream out of the arts. A&E and Bravo are two examples. But thankfully Ovation not only keeps the creative flame burning, it is embracing arts programming with advocacy and cause-based marketing efforts.

Chief Creative Officer Rob Weiss presented at Ovation’s press upfront at the Jazz at Lincoln Center venue. The network unveiled nine new original series scheduled to premiere in 2013 and revealed its 2014 development slate, consisting of 16 additional series. Here is a link to some of the exciting programming coming up for next season.

Ovation is committed to Arts Advocacy through Cable in the Classroom, which works with the NEA and arts educators across the nation. The network has created its own in-house production facility to keep the brand consistent and focused.

Obviously a dedication to the arts pays off. Ovation, as a 45 million home network, is one of the fastest growing cable networks in audience delivery, with +20% year to year compared to +12% for other mid-tier networks and -1% for the larger cable networks, according to the company.  Its commitment to digital includes an already thriving artist community containing over 200k art pieces (including some of mine), a YouTube channel, Twitter’s #OvationTV, 2.5 million viewers choice votes on Facebook and a presence on Instagram, Pinterest and Viggle.

Ovation, with its commitment to arts programming, content, advocacy and outreach is one of the truly unique networks in the media space today. Advertisers (and Time Warner) take note.