WE tv said it is extending the second season of reality show Love After Lockup by 10 episodes, to 24. The season's seventh episode doubled the number of total viewers (Live+3), to 1.3 million, from the season two premiere, per the network. And in adults 25-54, the count was 762,000, up 88% from the first episode.

The series follows relationships in which one half of the couple is behind bars, tracking the emotional journey of a prison release and life together after months or years of correspondence, supervised visits and highly structured interactions and expectations, according to the AMC Networks-owned channel. The extra episodes, landing this spring, will introduce new couples making the complicated transition to love on the "outside’ when a partner one has only ever known behind bars is released from prison, the network said.

“We could not be more thrilled with the organic growth that Love After Lockup continues to deliver, week after week, as more viewers find and connect with the real stories in the show,” said Marc Juris, WE tv president, in a release. “We knew we had a compelling concept with this series, and to see viewers respond like this is beyond gratifying. This is a challenging show to produce, but the results that wind up on screen are worth it and we are excited to extend this second season with another 10 episodes of unforgettable stories, characters and real-life drama.”

The series is produced by Sharp Entertainment. Executive producers are Matt Sharp and Dan Adler. Lauren P. Gellert, Kate Farrell and David Stefanou are executive producers for WE tv.

Amid the multitude of female-skewing holiday movies and specials airing in December, networks such as WE tv and Oxygen are giving viewers the gift of new, original regularly scheduled programming.

Women-targeted programmers said they aren’t afraid of competing against one-off holiday movies — and they’re eager to take advantage of reruns airing on broadcast networks.

“There are a lot of Christmas movies and Christmas specials, but that’s not for everybody,” Jerry Leo, executive vice president, program strategy, Lifestyle Networks for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, said. “I think the reality fan is still looking for other options.”

Two new reality series on NBCU’s Oxygen — Finding My Father, which tracks young women searching for their biological dads; and Rich in Faith, which follows Pastor Rich Wilkerson of Vous Church in Miami and his wife, DawnChere — both fit into the religious, heartwarming, family themes of the Christmas holiday, Leo said. In prior years, new seasons of Project Runway and The Real Housewives of Atlanta drew big numbers against holiday fare, he added.

“Hopefully the holidays will actually help us by creating that kind of environment and vibe for the shows,” Leo said.

WE tv last week launched the fourth seasons of two popular reality series, Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars and Tamar and Vince, the Braxton Family Values spinoff.

The holiday season provides a great opportunity to siphon off viewers who have been watching broadcast TV, WE tv president Marc Juris said. “On Thursday, when [ABC’s] Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder are in reruns, maybe 5 million women become available.”

Launching new and returning shows in December also allows the network to promote its January fare, he said. The network on Jan. 7 will debut reality series Growing Up Hip Hop. On Jan. 8, Ex Isle, starring Carmen Electra, will show individuals how to get over an ex.

“We want to use every opportunity in a crowded marketplace to bring in new viewers and to re-establish ourselves with our super-fans,” Juris said.

Still, women-targeted networks will face tough competition from holiday fare on Hallmark Channel and ABC Family.

ABC Family, with its “25 Days of Christmas” programming stunt, was easily the most watched network among women 18- 49, women 25-54 and women 18-34 during the first week of December (Nov. 30 to Dec. 6).

Undaunted, Leo said Oxygen plans to run its original content each week throughout the holiday season without any breaks.

“We don’t take our foot off the gas for even one week during the holidays,” he said. “If you’re into the storyline, you want to stay with it.”