Wednesday, July 13, 2011

More Oprah into OWN-TV


Oprah Winfrey is putting more of herself into her fledgling OWN cable TV channel, taking on the roles of both chief executive and chief creative officer, and working on a new chat show for 2012.

Less than two months after bowing out of her top-rated daily syndicated "The Oprah Winfrey Show" after 25 years, the talk show queen on Wednesday announced her more hands-on approach after disappointing ratings overall in the network's first six months.

OWN added that all future television production at Winfrey's Harpo Studios will be dedicated to OWN, and that Sheri Salata -- the executive producer of her old syndicated talk show -- would become a president of OWN.

It's the third change of CEO at the female-oriented network which started off well, but has struggled more recently.

In October, OWN will air "Oprah Encore" -- highlights of Winfrey's former chat show updated and repackaged with comments from the influential daytime queen herself.

A new chat show from Rosie O'Donnell will also make its debut in October.

OWN is co-owned by Winfrey and Discovery Communications Inc, which spent $215 million to fund the venture through the first quarter of 2011.

LAMediaWatch.com

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