Life Time Fitness Announces TV News Ban for 2018

Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, Minnesota, will no longer display politically oriented news programs on its facility televisions, according to a Jan. 4 report by the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Banned networks include CNN, FOX, MSNBC and CNBC, The Sacramento Bee reported on Jan. 5. Instead, wall-mounted TVs will now air programming from USA, A&E, Discovery, HGTV and ESPN.

Life Time Fitness spokeswoman Natalie Bushaw publicly confirmed the new corporate policy.

“A couple of reasons [for the ban]—both the many member requests received over time across the country, and in keeping with our overall healthy way of life philosophy and commitment to provide family oriented environments free of consistently negative or politically charged content," Bushaw told the Pioneer Press. “Ultimately, it always is our goal to meet the vast majority of members’ expressed requests and we believe this change is consistent with the desires of the overall membership as well as our desire to uphold a positive, family oriented, healthy way of life environment."

Private TVs built into cardio equipment displays will allow TV news access as of February, according to The Washington Times. Life Time Fitness will continue to provide wireless internet access as well, allowing members to access news via mobile devices.

Life Time Fitness ranked No. 2 on Club Industry's Top 100 Health Clubs of 2017 list with an estimated $1.475 billion in 2016 revenue.