Oprah Winfrey is going to rule the World!
Posted on January 15th, 2008 by Hot MommaOprah Winfrey and Discovery create OWN Network
Oprah Winfrey’s massive media empire is about to expand. Discovery Communications Inc. will launch a 50-50 joint venture, partnership with Oprah Winfrey in the second half of next year. The new network called Own — the Oprah Winfrey Network — combining her television show and Web site with Discovery’s Health Channel, the company announced today. In the cashless transaction Discovery will contribute its Discovery Health Channel, to be rebranded as OWN in late 2009 and simulcast in High Definition. The channel, launched in 1999, reaches more than 70 million cable and satellite subscribers.
What isn’t clearly understood about this deal is that Oprah’s top-rated syndicated talk show won’t be moving to the new channel anytime soon. The show has been syndicated to TV stations around the country through the 2010-2011 season, according to a spokeswoman for Ms. Winfrey. Winfrey’s Web site averages about 6 million unique visitors per month. The show could conceivably move after that date, although the spokeswoman said the agreement to create the joint venture with Discovery doesn’t require it, and wouldn’t comment on whether Ms. Winfrey would consider such a move.
Ownership and advertising revenue will be split evenly between Winfrey and Discovery, said Discovery chief executive David M. Zaslav. Winfrey will be the new company’s chairman.
Own, like Winfrey’s magazine, will aim to “entertain and inspire” viewers and Web users, Zaslav said.
Discovery Health will remain as it is until the new venture launches next year, when it will be rebranded as the Own channel, Zaslav said. The Health Channel, which he called “beachfront real estate” in the cable world, reaches 68 million homes. The new channel will feature mostly original, non-fiction programming, Zaslav said, as the Health Channel does now. Discovery has 100 networks in 173 nations and claims a global audience of 1.5 billion.
Oprah will oversee programming for the OWN channel, although details of program plans aren’t yet decided. The programming will be in Ms. Winfrey’s “own voice,” according to a spokeswoman for Ms. Winfrey, and Ms. Winfrey will be involved on and off camera.
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