Splat! It’s the End of an Era.
After 20+ years
as a talk show host, the “Queen of All Media” has her OWN network!
By Brigitte
Sullivan
Oprah
Winfrey is risking everything to launch a TV Network. The Oprah Winfrey Network
(OWN) launched January 1, 2011. The network is the culmination of Oprah’s
20-plus years as a talk show host, television producer, star maker (Dr. Phil
and DR. Oz), and creator of content for “living your best life.” Here’s a list
of Oprah’s greatest hits and how they’ve paved the way for her new network.
Oprah’s best friend Gayle King already has her own talk show on Harpo Radio,
Dr. Mehmet Oz is one of a handful stars whose shows she produces and owns a
stake in. Other’s include Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray and design guru Nate Berkus
(Fortune Magazine, October, 2010).
Oprah Winfrey was headed into her
“la-di-da years”—her term for semiretirement—when David Zaslav came along and
wrecked her grand plan. The queen of TV talk had never met the CEO of Discovery
Communications until he arrived at Chicago
office in April 2007 with a proposition. “OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network,”
Zaslav said, pitching the notion that they create a cable TV network together:
“I don’t want your money,” he told her. “I want you.” (Fortune, October 18,
2010)
There has never been anyone in the
media like Oprah. Part Johnny Carson, part Rupert Murdoch, part Anna Wintour,
she is a TV legend, media mogul (No. 6 on our Most Powerful Women list), and
tastemaker all rolled into one. The Oprah Winfrey Show, which she owns and
which is seen in 146 countries, is the most successful daytime program in TV
history, with 12.6 million viewers at its peak.
It’s the place where Facebook CEO
Mark Zuckerberg announced he would donate $100 million to improve education in New Jersey; the same
week, Bill Gates riffed about reforming education nationally. A mere mention on
Oprah’s show can catapult a book or hand cream or cupcake to bestseller status
(Fortune, October, 2010, The 50 most powerful women issue).
It's a tall order launching a 24/7 cable
network — producing hundreds of hours of programming, signing deals with
advertisers and cable systems, handpicking a team that shares her philosophy —
under the kind of scrutiny reserved for only the biggest celebs (USAToday.com,
2011).
The
new Oprah
Winfrey Network got off to a
fast start over the weekend of January 1st, averaging slightly more
than 1 million viewers on its first two nights.
While
nowhere near the 6-million-plus viewers her daytime show averages, it was
enough to catapult the new channel into the Top 25 cable networks in its first
days.
The
ratings averages were on a par with channels like SyFy, TLC and the Food
Network.
The
first ratings cover only Saturday and Sunday night's primetime shows, which
included celebrity specials with rapper Jay-Z and
news anchor Diane Sawyer; a Q&A show with Oprah regulars Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz
and Suze Ormond; and the first two episodes of a series about Oprah's final
year as a talk-show host (NYPost.com, 2011).
Long
live the Queen!
References:
Baron, Lisa, (December 20, 2010) Creating Your Own Brand Network Like Oprah Winfrey. Retrieved from: http://outspokenmedia.com/branding/oprah-winfrey-brand-network/
Levin, Gary, (January 6, 2011) Oprah talks up OWN, five days after launch
Retrieved
from: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/livefrom/post/2011/01/oprah-
Sellers, Patricia (October 18,
2010) Fortune Magazine, Most Powerful Women, Number 6: Oprah Winfrey.
The writers for the information gathered on Oprah
Winfrey and Oprah Winfrey Network are Lisa Baron; Lisa is the Chief Branding
Officer of OutspokenMedia.com. Pattie Sellers is editor-at-large, and the
impresario of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women operations at Fortune Magazine.
Gary Levin is a writer for USAToday.com.
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