Segars’s 24-hour Ovation TV is the only national television network dedicated to the arts and personal creativity. Built around a mission to inspire and connect, Ovation TV has forged a creative community accessible to amateurs and professionals alike. “The arts are the most powerful vehicle for genuine communication in the world. It has no borders, and we embrace this,” asserts Segars.
Ovation’s original content includes American Revolutionaries, an event that celebrates great Americans who revolutionized their particular art form: Frank Lloyd Wright in architecture; Elvis in music; Martin Scorsese in film, for example. The network also touts the design-centric Everything Is Art, which focuses on the intersection of art, design and commercialism. “It’s about how art surrounds us everyday—whether it’s in movie posters, advertising, street art, or the artful design of everyday products,” Segars says.
Segars is particularly excited about Ovation’s fresh offerings. “Our first original programming series is Art in the City. It’s a walking tour of all the best galleries and arty hangouts in six great cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, London and Paris,” he reveals. “One of our biggest hits is The Battle of the Nutcrackers, where we take different versions of The Nutcracker, program them, and then ask our viewersto vote online for the version they like the best.
“Our job is to get behind the scenes into the artists’ process,” says Segars. “That has been our mission, and we have seen one common thread—a need to make something, perform something, write something. It’s very entertaining and inspires people to create themselves.”
Dedicated to creating a community where the like-minded can find each other, Ovation TV has created “my art” on ovation.com, where people have uploaded thousands of pieces of art to share, show, and talk about. “Art inspires critical thinking, creative problem solving, communication, and teamwork,” Segars says. “It’s exciting to be in the middle of it, creating one destination to celebrate the arts in all of its forms.”
