While executive producer of talent and entertainment features for HBO in the late ’80s, Marta Tracy was asked to help create a cable network that would be “the CNN of entertainment.” The resulting presentation tape formed the basis for E! Entertainment Television.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that Tracy was chosen as head of programming for the Los Angles-based network’s new spin-off channel, appropriately called Style. The network, scheduled to debut in October, will focus on casual clothing, high couture, home design and collectibles.

“We are not a network that dictates style,” said Tracy. “We intend to offer possibilities, then the viewers can pick and choose what is right for themselves. We feel style is a personal expression.”

Tracy left HBO nine years ago to help launch E!, where until recently she served as vice president of programming and development. It was her idea to run programs on fashion alongside the Hollywood-oriented shows that make up the bulk of E!’s programming.

“I felt that designers, models and the fashions themselves would make wonderful television,” Tracy said. “Television is all about images. The fashion world provides a fabulous array of images for us to choose from.”

While at E!, Tracy developed “Talk Soup” and “The Gossip Show,” and served as executive producer on more than 30 fashion and lifestyle specials, as well as the “Model” series. She’ll use that experience to develop new shows for Style.

So far, no cable operator has signed on to carry Style, though officials with E! say that negotiations have just begun and that carriers of the current network have expressed interest in picking up the sister channel.

At the offset, the channel would offer a four-hour programming block, to be repeated several times a day, with an increase in programming hours as viewership grows.

Karen Teitelman