Q Talk

[Spurt]

On 10/10/2014 mewsmomtoo said:

Thank you Spurt for your kind words regarding my kitty. I don't want to turn this into a kitty thread, but I hope you don't mind if I talk to kittymomNC briefly: Hi KittymomNC, I do know about your Baby Cat, I've learned some things from reading your threads and I'm sure I will have questions as Gracie and I work our way through this so thank you for the offer of help (and my vet did actually take Gracie's BP - that was a first for me)

Hi mewsmomtoo.....be my guest and ask KittymomNC any questions you like.....this is an open forum.... and I think that most are kitty/animal lovers too.....your comments are always welcome no matter what the topic...and for anyone else too....and on my threads we have not only discussed the Q, but also animals, decorating, sports, shopping, excursions, TV etc etc.....

[stevieb]

Hey Spurt, I'm posting the below from remarks I made on another thread. It's my thoughts about Lisa's leaving, what it means to the Q and who they'll have as their new diva...

My take on the diva thing is that they really have no one with the charisma, glamor, broadcast voice, range of knowledge, poise and likability (realizing she certainly hasn't appealed to everyone, and no one is going to...) to fill her shoes...

I agree with you that Sandra, while pretty, lacks that certain je ne sais quoi to be the next big thing... She also doesn't really have a great voice and frankly, she bores me silly... At one time, Shawnie-Sue might have been my pick, but she seems to be racking up the baggage and doesn't fit the whole glamor girl image... The Marm? Get outta here... Courtney doesn't have the chops for it. Not yet, anyway... Amy can't get through a whole sentence without a mis-speak... And really, there appear to be no single, 'professional' women inside who fit the mold, so either they'll create a new mold or they'll find someone outside... Who knows, maybe they'll get Rick some extensions and let him go to town...

Anyway...

I wasn't around when Kathy Levine was a fixture but I do know lots of posters seem to really miss her. Yes, QVC survived her leaving, just as they will probably survive Lisa's leaving, but there are some very real differences and I think it'll be more of a challenge for them this time around.

When Kathy left, QVC was at the top of their game and home shopping, overall, was, it seems, in its hey-day, and on more solid footing. In the intervening years, QVC has changed a great deal and there's some consensus, whether anyone personally agrees or not, it hasn't been for the better. Fewer brands, fewer options, more repetition... just a whole lot less, across the board, to hold our interest. I personally think that's one big reason we've seen the Q pushing this 'cult of the hosts', because the programming offers very little new, different or exciting for us to focus upon. Given all that, I think Lisa's leaving will hit QVC pretty hard.

Personally, I've always liked Lisa. To be sure, like all of them, she could be annoying, but, I would sometimes watch her whether I was particularly interested in what she was hawking or not. Even more telling is that even on some of those occasions, rare though it might have been, she'd convince me to buy something or try something in which I'd started out having no interest. None of the others has ever had that capacity, but then that's just my two cents.

My QVC viewing habits have decreased markedly in recent years, (largely their fault, by the way, as the programming and product mix have just become unwatchable) but I did usually try to catch Lisa's shows and, more importantly, by doing so, she somehow managed to keep me hooked into the Q. With her gone, I clearly won't be watching on any kind of regular basis. Let's face it, the product based shows they now offer that catch my interest are pretty far and few between and, again, often so very repetitive. More critically, at least from the QVC perspective, is that if I'm watching less (or not at all), QVC as a shopping resource will increasingly fade from my radar, even more than it already has... Simply put, QVC can no longer rely on the products they televise to hook viewers or to keep them hooked in, and if they don't have some really solid, charismatic hosts to fall back on, well, the picture ain't pretty...

A replacement? Yes, they need one. No, they don't have one. I always though Shawn would be the next big thing and maybe she will be, but she doesn't fit the young-ish, single, professional woman, glamor-puss image that Lisa more or less made her own, and I don't see the Q falling back on the 'home, mom and apple pie' diva they might have once relied upon back when Mary Beth was sort of the Queen Bee... Certainly, none of the newer crop of young hosts has it all (poise, a great broadcast voice, a broad range of knowledge and experience, glamor and likability) and I don't see any of them filling Lisa's shoes without a really significantly long wait and a whole lot of improvement...

I certainly wish Lisa well and have to assume that unlike some of those who've gone before, she's savvy enough to have a bona fide plan. I surely hope so, and I hope it involves some venue that keeps her in the public eye.

[teganslaw]

MewsMom, I'm sorry to hear about your cat's kidney disease and hyperthyroid. I hope that she continues to do OK, despite the prognosis.

Happy birthday, Jasper! He is so cute; Lucky could have been his twin.

I read about Lisa leaving. Where is she going? Any news on that? I saw Lisa a couple times, but never was a great fan of hers. She was OK, just didn't convince me to buy anything.

SPURT, maybe you need to change sports teams. For basketball, you could always follow LeBron wherever he goes, become a Cavalier fan. Forget the Giants or Cowboys; follow the Colts instead. Just a thought...

[stevieb]

It hasn't been said yet what Lisa's new 'adventure' involves... Personally, more times than not, I enjoyed her and found her to be fairly convincing, especially back in the day when QVC had more merchandise worth buying!

I do wish MewMom's kitty good luck... Both illnesses, depending on the severity, can be treated and I'm hoping that's the case here...

And yes, Spurt needs to find a new truly professional... football team.

[kittymomNC]

StevieB, I agree with so much of what you've said. Back in the days of Kathy Levine and the years after she left, there was so much variety offered! So although it did leave a void when Kathy left, and Judy, and a couple of the others, the variety of products, fashions, etc. kept up the interest.

Even on their St. Patrick's Day specials, there was a much bigger variety of items for sale, all kinds of things made in Ireland. I even made a small collection of replicas of actual Irish cottages, churches, and buildings called the Irish Heritage Collection. These small replicas are so detailed, it's unreal. My first piece was the "Quiet Man Cottage", a replica of the real cottage used in the movie with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara (I think I'm right about her). I have a number of pieces, and the stone churches and the one castle I have are beautiful. I need to sell them now, because I've moved on to other things, but it was an example of the variety of offerings.

When they did the 50 in 50 bus tour, during which they discovered Jeanne Bice and Quacker Factory, among others, it was almost exciting to see what would be coming next. (Can you imagine saying that about QVC now??) Every day there was such a variety of products, jewelry, fashions...I remember when they had a guy on from one of the southern states (can't remember which one), who made these great rustic birdhouses. I have two of them, and bought one or two more when I saw them at the flea market later on. I would never use the word "excitement" in conjuction with "QVC" now -- that would be such an oxymoron!

I used to have QVC on a lot during the weekends when I was home from work. And I've bought SO much over the years. Now, I try to watch Denim & Co shows, Liz Claiborne, and Linea, and I used to watch the shoe shows but I think I now have all the shoes and boots I will need for the next 10 years! Once in a while I watch a food show, or ITKWD, but I don't buy anything. There is just nothing much that interests me any more, or anything that I really need, so unless the show is funny or interesting in some way, I don't bother to watch.

I have enjoyed Lisa so much on PM Style -- I don't care at all for the "hyped up" shows from Italy or the Red Carpet and things like that. I didn't even really care for Lisa's Friday night show. But on Monday nights, she was always so "loose", I have found myself watching that show just to see what would happen with her, the models and the vendors. I've laughed out loud at her antics and her remarks many times. Whatever "IT" is, she has it. (I can't think of anyone else there now who has "IT"!) And she has such a great sense of humor, coming out with remarks and the funny looks on her face, and her interaction with everyone, that makes me enjoy watching her. I hope she has great plans for her future.

My own future plans, unfortunately, will not include much QVC....

Edited to add: does anyone remember all the craft shows they used to have? I always enjoyed watching Donna Dewberry paint - loved those shows! (And I still have a couple of her painting sets....)

[Spurt]

On 10/10/2014 teganslaw said:

MewsMom, I'm sorry to hear about your cat's kidney disease and hyperthyroid. I hope that she continues to do OK, despite the prognosis.

Happy birthday, Jasper! He is so cute; Lucky could have been his twin.

I read about Lisa leaving. Where is she going? Any news on that? I saw Lisa a couple times, but never was a great fan of hers. She was OK, just didn't convince me to buy anything.

SPURT, maybe you need to change sports teams. For basketball, you could always follow LeBron wherever he goes, become a Cavalier fan. Forget the Giants or Cowboys; follow the Colts instead. Just a thought...

Hey Tegan....

And again I want to express my heartfelt condolences for Lucky.

Jasper is a cutie, and I applaud Mary for adopting him...

There's a lot of speculation on where Lisa's going, but it's all nothing but speculation.

Tegan......I am NOT a LeBron fan, he''s not as bad as the Laker's, Kobe, but all that mess with LeBron's decision etc etc....I think I will stick with my Spurs...perhaps with Lady Gaga in the stands it made my Spur nervous so they missed a key shot which caused them to lose the game... I DO like your Colts and was cheering for them last night against the Texans---I like your coach, Andrew Luck, Reggie Wayne....but unfortunately your team has a crazy owner....even before his arrest he would get on twitter and tweet some of the darndest things...and I've already had to contend with a crazy NFL owner... Perhaps I will consider the Colts my second favorite team...

It's my DS's birthday Sunday and she is having a party at her house, her friends and I are bringing some good food and a birthday cake, but she said we have to watch her football game and everyone will have to cheer for her Giants

[stevieb]

On 10/10/2014 kittymomNC said:

StevieB, I agree with so much of what you've said. Back in the days of Kathy Levine and the years after she left, there was so much variety offered! So although it did leave a void when Kathy left, and Judy, and a couple of the others, the variety of products, fashions, etc. kept up the interest.

Even on their St. Patrick's Day specials, there was a much bigger variety of items for sale, all kinds of things made in Ireland. I even made a small collection of replicas of actual Irish cottages, churches, and buildings called the Irish Heritage Collection. These small replicas are so detailed, it's unreal. My first piece was the "Quiet Man Cottage", a replica of the real cottage used in the movie with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara (I think I'm right about her). I have a number of pieces, and the stone churches and the one castle I have are beautiful. I need to sell them now, because I've moved on to other things, but it was an example of the variety of offerings.

When they did the 50 in 50 bus tour, during which they discovered Jeanne Bice and Quacker Factory, among others, it was almost exciting to see what would be coming next. (Can you imagine saying that about QVC now??) Every day there was such a variety of products, jewelry, fashions...I remember when they had a guy on from one of the southern states (can't remember which one), who made these great rustic birdhouses. I have two of them, and bought one or two more when I saw them at the flea market later on. I would never use the word "excitement" in conjuction with "QVC" now -- that would be such an oxymoron!

I used to have QVC on a lot during the weekends when I was home from work. And I've bought SO much over the years. Now, I try to watch Denim & Co shows, Liz Claiborne, and Linea, and I used to watch the shoe shows but I think I now have all the shoes and boots I will need for the next 10 years! Once in a while I watch a food show, or ITKWD, but I don't buy anything. There is just nothing much that interests me any more, or anything that I really need, so unless the show is funny or interesting in some way, I don't bother to watch.

I have enjoyed Lisa so much on PM Style -- I don't care at all for the "hyped up" shows from Italy or the Red Carpet and things like that. I didn't even really care for Lisa's Friday night show. But on Monday nights, she was always so "loose", I have found myself watching that show just to see what would happen with her, the models and the vendors. I've laughed out loud at her antics and her remarks many times. Whatever "IT" is, she has it. (I can't think of anyone else there now who has "IT"!) And she has such a great sense of humor, coming out with remarks and the funny looks on her face, and her interaction with everyone, that makes me enjoy watching her. I hope she has great plans for her future.

My own future plans, unfortunately, will not include much QVC....

Edited to add: does anyone remember all the craft shows they used to have? I always enjoyed watching Donna Dewberry paint - loved those shows! (And I still have a couple of her painting sets....)

KMNC... Thanks for your post... Even though I missed the old days, I still understand exactly what you mean because even as recently as I started watching the Q, I used to be somewhat in awe of all the things I could sit and enjoy watching seeing presented... Now, not only is the variety gone, but the presentations, which too often seem endless, aren't much of a pleasure to watch... Agree with your assessment of Lisa and the 'it' factor that is going to be sorely lacking, and given the rest of what we've noted, like you, I don't foresee much QVC in my future... Incidentally, your Irish collection sounds just lovely. Even if you moved on to other things, you clearly enjoyed it for a time and certainly there's nothing being offered on QVC these days of that ilk... I guess collectibles can't hold a candle to another ten or so hours of computers, that are often out of date and, if the financials are to be believed, might or might not sell like hotcakes... Gee, wouldn't you think just one of those ten hours might be devoted to something else...?

[Spurt]

.

STEVIE, I also came to QVC after the Kathy Levine craze.....I saw her once when she became a vendor for a line of jewelry

I do think Lisa brought glamour to her shows, and that's why I think QVC upped the ante on Lisa's shows too---with the special sets or remotes and the merchandise. I think they knew that people would want to tune in just to see what dress she would be wearing, check out her jewelry and shoes. And they did seem to always have something a little different.....and then Lisa had a talent for selling ...

It is strange when you evaluate the newer hosts---because it makes it seem that QVC has gone back to the future---are they going for the market of the 20 or 30 year old moms???? Are these the generation X Mary Beth's....?????? There are no hosts with glam.....but maybe glam is dead. Most dress for businesses these days is now casual, there are few formal parties or gatherings these daystoo etc etc. But when Mike George took over, in an interview he talked about when he came to QVC he thought it was old fashioned and frumpy and worked to change the image and attract a younger demographic. He did away with the "homey looking sets" and replaced them with more modern ones etc etc....But it seems he hired "frumpy" hosts....mostly these are former news people who don't seem to have "an edge" or nor do they have any glam not at all.... So I think Lisa will leave a definite void.....no "must see" TV for QVC.....and Lisa and her remotes were as close as they got...at least in the past few years...but the merchandise on these the last couple of years even became repetitive.....

If there was nothing on the other channels, QVC used to have something different on, (they used to have real gold jewelry, or jewelry with exotic gems), nice clothes, or interesting home decor or I used to look forward to specific shows, but most are no more......Now with their limited products and hyper or silly hosts, the programs are not watchable....I may peek in out of curiosity but I quickly turn the channel....They have an edge over other online retailers with TV, but instead of using it to attract customers, what they show now a days scares people away!

I don't think they know who their REAL target customers are or what we want!!!

[kittymomNC]

If anyone else has had my recent experience with ordering a computer from QVC (which I realized had OLD technology and not the "newest technology available" as was said in the presentation) and trying to cancel it, they won't be selling many of those! (Although I did buy my Dell desktop from them five years ago and it's still humming along just fine.... It actually WAS new technology at that time.)

My immediate question is: Can they really make that much profit on SEVEN HOURS of Shark Solutions on Monday???

[Spurt]

On 10/10/2014 kittymomNC said:

If anyone else has had my recent experience with ordering a computer from QVC (which I realized had OLD technology and not the "newest technology available" as was said in the presentation) and trying to cancel it, they won't be selling many of those! (Although I did buy my Dell desktop from them five years ago and it's still humming along just fine.... It actually WAS new technology at that time.)

My immediate question is: Can they really make that much profit on SEVEN HOURS of Shark Solutions on Monday???

Not only Shark---can they really make a profit of seven hours of HP Computers or Bose??? Their 3rd quarter financial results should be coming out soon and I am very curious to see what they show....