Oprah’s Channel - Updated

Few days back while I was browsing through the entertainment news on Google, my eyes caught a news article about a channel named OWN probably an acronym for Oprah Winfrey network. The first thing that came to my mind after reading the headline was how? When? Why? I am not really a news person and therefore find myself usually unaware of the current happenings. I am not a religious follower of Oprah’s shows but I used to watch them sometimes. Therefore I was curious to know about all the hype going on about her channel. I started looking through the articles related to the same and came across many interesting ones. Some telling about the popularity of the channel and some critiquing over the low number of viewers.

Oprah Winfrey’s syndicated talk show ended on 25th May 2011. Her last show was filled with tears and pride. She walked out on a stage for the last time to a standing ovation from an audience filled with friends and family, including her longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham. "There are no words to match this moment," said Winfrey, clad in a pink dress with ruffles cascading down the front. She told the audience that that day she would not be giving away cars nor were there any trinkets hidden under their seats. Instead, Winfrey used her final show, the 4,561st, to thank the audience that made her show the No.1 talk show for its entire 25-year run. Her last show wasn’t the end of her success, in fact it was a beginning to a whole new series of adventures; the OWN channel!

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), named after talk-show presenter Oprah Winfrey, is an American specialty channel produced by Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications. It is said to be a replacement of the former Discovery Health Channel. OWN is not a one man show channel. In fact it’s like all the other channels where various shows are run by various people like strips, special programs, original documentaries, and acquired movies.
According to discovery communications “OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is the network of self-discovery, connecting people to each other and to their greatest potential. We tell real-life stories that are emotional and entertaining. We present moments of transformation that inspire action. We give you the tools to fuel your own self-discovery and live your best life. On OWN, it's not about what's next on TV, it's about what's next for you.” The network insists that it is on a long journey toward building a network around Winfrey's approach to programming.

In the case of ratings it's still so far, not so good. From July through October, the network averaged 116,000 viewers throughout the day, down from Discovery Health's daily average of 147,000. OWN was also down from Discovery Health in primetime, and more disturbingly among women 25 to 54, its target demographic.
It's not a surprise that OWN isn't attracting as many men as Discovery Health, but the fact that it's still not attracting as many women is a big problem. The critiques said that OWN low ratings would almost certainly cause Oprah to bring a daily talk show like her recently finished syndicated show to OWN. As a result she planned to host a few shows on her channel. “Oprah’s Lifeclass” is one the show hosted by her. Episodes of that series are also being reshown on OWN. And the best of them reveal all too clearly that her success didn’t spring solely from the New Age-y self-improvement lessons, but from Ms. Winfrey’s spirited interactions with guests and audiences.

Oprah wasn’t always so spiritually “mindful.” A lot of the time she was irreverent, bold and even at times shocking. Winfrey is working hard to make herself more visible, not only hosting "Lifeclass" this week but taking part in online chats with fans each night after it airs. She'll also begin her next talk show, "Oprah's Next Chapter," in January.Winfrey has committed to appearing in a minimum of 70-hours per year on the network. "Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold. For me, the launch of OWN is the evolution of the work I've been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show", said Oprah.