HSN, Formerly known as Home Shopping Network, is an American television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which owns several other ventures. HSN is based out of St. Petersburg, Florida. The home shopping channel has several sister channels.
HSN has operations worldwide, and broadcasts live for 19 hours a day, 364 days a year. The word “LIVE” is inserted above the on-air graphic on the top-right corner during live broadcasts while hosts stay on the air for 2 or 3 hours and feature 5 to 10 products. The channel usually ends live broadcasting for the Christmas holiday at about 4 pm on Christmas Eve. The company benefits from a stable of celebrity designers and advertisers, including chef Wolfgang Puck, actress Suzanne Somers, singer Patti Labelle, and jewelry designer Cathy Waterman.
The HSN.com Domain
HSN registered the domain name HSN.com in 1997 and, if it isn’t renewed, will expire in 2023. The HSN.com trademark was registered in 2000, while the trademark for ‘HSN’ itself was registered in 1987.
Company History
HSN was launched by Lowell Paxon and Roy Speer in 1982 under the business name ”home shopping club”, a local cable channel seen on Vision Cabel and Group W Cable in Florida.
It expanded into the first home shopping network three years later, on July 1st of 1985, changing its name to the Home Shopping Network and pioneering the concept of a televised sales pitch for consumer goods and services. Its competitor and future owner QVC were launched the following year.
The idea for HSN had its roots in a radio station managed by Paxson; due to an advertisers liquidity problem in 1977, the company was paid in can openers. Needing to raise funds, on-air personality Bob Circosta went on the radio and sold the can openers for $9.95 each. The can openers sold out, and a new industry was born. Circosta would become the new network’s first-ever home shopping host and would eventually sell 75,000 different products in over 20,000 hours of live television.
In 1986, HSN began a second network that broadcast free-to-air on several television stations it had acquired under the umbrella of Silver King Broadcasting.
In February 1986, Merrill Lynch underwrote the Home Shopping Network’s initial public offering at $18 a share. An investment banker who helped with the offering commented on Speer’s wisdom in pricing Home Shopping’s stock so low because it was still perceived as a risky company in an untried industry.
The Home Shopping Club had developed three formats: Home Shopping Network 1 (HSN 1), Home Shopping Network 2 (HSN 2), and Home Shopping Spree. HSN 1 was available live, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and was produced exclusively for cable. HSN 2, which offered upscale merchandise, was also available live, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but was marketed to both broadcast and cable television. Home Shopping Spree offered limited-time or 24-hour programming to broadcast stations.
Between 1997 and 1999, the station group was sold to IAC founder Barry Diller. It changed its name to USA broadcasting, with four of them ending HSN programming outside of overnight hours and becoming independent stations with a local programming format known as CityVision.
In 1997 HSN formally launched its second nationwide electronic retail venture, a 24-hour network under America’s Store’s name (it had operated similar concepts of more limited scale since 1988). In April 2007, America’s store ceased operating permanently. Most of America’s Store hosts (some already splitting hosting duties between networks) were absorbed into HSN’s programming schedule.
In 1999 the company launched its website, HSN.com, to engage with younger consumers. HSN.com sells several brands and ranges, such as Trademark Global, Baggallini, Belmont garden, C&F home, Berghoff, Patricia Nash, and Safavieh. HSN.com is a ”one-stop-shop” that offers everything from canvas art to crafts & sewing. Usually, Flexpay is also offered to consumers.
HSN also produced a 14-episode online video series, ”Faces of beautiful you”, which follows three young women who find solutions to many of life’s problems through HSN’s beauty products.
In 2000, Home Shopping Network officially changed its name to HSN.
In 2006, Mindy Grossman became CEO and launched an aggressive rebranding and re-launch. She took HSN public in 2008 and has overseen a multibillion-dollar retail portfolio and expansion. Grossman left in 2017. In the same year, Liberty Interactive announced it would be buying the remaining 62% of HSN stock to acquire the company for its QVC group.
Related Trademarks & Domains
In addition to selling from wholesalers like design imports and partnerships with companies and brands like Bell + Howell, Bissell, Curtis Stone, and better trends, HSN has many of its collections. We’ll look at some of these collections, in addition to related trademarks and domains owned by HSN and its parent company/majority owner, the QVC group.
Read more on trademarks and domain names.
QVC.com
QVC.com is QVC’s main website; QVC is a former competitor (now owner) of HSN.
QVC is an American free-to-air television network and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group and founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pennsylvania. QVC broadcasts to more than 350 million households in seven countries, including its channels in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Italy, along with a joint venture in China with China National Radio called CNR Mall.
QVC.com sells beauty, fashion, jewelry, furniture, and other home products. QVC.com’s domain was initially registered in 1994. QVC was founded in 1986, and the trademark for QVC and QVC.com was registered in 1995 and 2001, respectively.
Concierge Collection
The concierge collection is a luxury range offered by HSN that comprises primarily luxury bedding, sheets, towels, and more. Their tagline is ”Luxury Hotel Inspired Bedding”.
Trademark registration for the concierge collection took place in 2006.
Winter Lane
Winter Lane is a Christmas range offered by HSN.com. Offered are Christmas decorations such as garlands and baubles, in addition to festive candles, ornaments, stockings, and Santa sacks.
The filing date for the Winter Lane trademark was in 2009.
South Street Loft
South Street Loft is a homeware brand offered by HSN. Offerings include bedding, home furniture, decors such as wall art, and more. The trademark registration for South Street Loft took place in 2005.
Highgate Manor
Highgate manor is another HSN trademark closely linked to its concierge collection. Highgate Manor offers luxury bedding sets though the trademark is also extended to dinnerware, flatware, knives, forks, and other home accessories.
HSN LLC applied to register Highgate manor in 2002.
Cottage Collection
HSN’s cottage collection is a rustic homeware collection that offers luxury bedding and other soft furnishings.
The cottage collection was trademarked in 2006.
Wrapping Up
HSN, a company under the umbrella of the QVC group, is a steadfast name in the home shopping industry, with an overall successful website too. The brand has gone from strength to strength since its inception in the 1980s and survived the economic turmoil of the global recession and COVID-19 pandemic.
The QVC Group is a multi-billion dollar corporation with several different ”arms”; part of this massive value is in its intellectual property. Trademark branding can be worth a fortune in and of itself.
Trademark law gives you everything you need to protect your business. You can only benefit from these crucial legal protections if you register your trademarks, preferably as soon as you start your business. Without this, you have little recourse if your intellectual property is compromised.
