Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 22 hours ago
Back in the spring of 1994, Minneapolis’s KARE-11 decided to shine a spotlight on a scrappy underdog in the world of televised retail therapy — a little-known shopping network called ValueVision.
While giants like QVC and The Home Shopping Club (now HSN) were already household names, ValueVision was just getting its feet wet — barely two years old and still figuring out how to charm viewers into buying cubic zirconia necklaces at 2 a.m.
Enter KARE’s intrepid reporter John Stone. In a behind-the-scenes special, Stone pulls back the curtain on the rising network, offering viewers a rare glimpse into the world of TV pitchmen, blinking phone lines, and warehouse-sized jewelry collections. But this wasn’t just a look at one upstart channel — the story dove headfirst into the booming phenomenon of home shopping itself, and the loyal fans (and compulsive buyers) who couldn’t stop dialing in.
Long before it rebranded as ShopNBC, ShopHQ, Evine, or Evine Live, ValueVision was quietly preparing to take a seat at the big kids' table — and John Stone was there to catch the moment the retail revolution went live.
To listen to all episodes already published, in addition to all the new weekly episodes, go to areweontheair.libsyn.com Or subscribe to "Are We On The Air?" wherever you get your podcasts.
Back in the spring of 1994, Minneapolis’s KARE-11 decided to shine a spotlight on a scrappy underdog in the world of televised retail therapy — a little-known shopping network called ValueVision.
While giants like QVC and The Home Shopping Club (now HSN) were already household names, ValueVision was just getting its feet wet — barely two years old and still figuring out how to charm viewers into buying cubic zirconia necklaces at 2 a.m.
Enter KARE’s intrepid reporter John Stone. In a behind-the-scenes special, Stone pulls back the curtain on the rising network, offering viewers a rare glimpse into the world of TV pitchmen, blinking phone lines, and warehouse-sized jewelry collections. But this wasn’t just a look at one upstart channel — the story dove headfirst into the booming phenomenon of home shopping itself, and the loyal fans (and compulsive buyers) who couldn’t stop dialing in.
Long before it rebranded as ShopNBC, ShopHQ, Evine, or Evine Live, ValueVision was quietly preparing to take a seat at the big kids' table — and John Stone was there to catch the moment the retail revolution went live.
To listen to all episodes already published, in addition to all the new weekly episodes, go to areweontheair.libsyn.com Or subscribe to "Are We On The Air?" wherever you get your podcasts.
