Even Oprah Can Have A Failed Start Up

When Oprah Winfrey announced almost three years ago that she was ending her run as the queen of daytime tv and instead, starting her OWN (no pun intended, ok maybe a little) Network, it was met with mixed response.  There was already Oxygen (which Oprah has an interest in), Lifetime TV, the Hallmark channel and other networks that are focused on the lives of women. I think because of Oprah being Oprah she was given a bigger chance than anyone else who would have started their OWN (there it is again) network.

Oprah brought some of her other daytime pals along, most notably Rosie O’Donnell who herself sat pretty high on the throne of daytime tv. Unfortunately, OWN hasn’t gained the viewership that Winfrey had anticipated.

More after the break


OWN is a joint venture between Oprah and Discovery Communications, owners of the Discovery Channel. The Silver Spring Maryland based company and Oprah announced yesterday that they were re-structuring it’s network operations in Los Angeles and New York. This restructuring is at the expense of 30 jobs.

This isn’t the first restructuring OWN has gone through since their launch a little over a year ago. What seemed like a great opportunity to see the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O’Donnell, Shania Twain, and Sarah the Duchess of York, has now become a marathon style tv network running up to 9 episodes of the same show back to back bookended by the Rosie O’Donnell Show which ends March 30th.

Rosie O’Donnell’s show started as a live show in front of a studio audience. After just two months of airing it was completely revamped to a more Larry King style show with no audience. It was later announced that after a five month run the O’Donnell show was cancelled. Other than Oprah’s own show the O’Donnell show was expected to be a huge hit for the network.

While the layoffs, and restructuring may keep the network going for a little longer, it looks like it’s going to be a rocky road even for a star as powerful as Oprah Winfrey, reportedly the most wealthiest female entertainer in the world. New veteran Katie Couric is expected to star her new afternoon hour long talk show which ultimately replaced Winfreys.

So why is this story appearing in Nibletz? First off OWN was a start up idea by Winfrey it had never been done quite the way Winfrey tried to do it at first.

Secondly, like a start up, there was huge risk involved for Winfrey. Winfrey could have easily re-upped her syndication contract for the original Oprah Winfrey show, quite frankly for as long as she wanted to do it. It was making her rich but like most with an entrepreneurial flair, Winfrey was getting bored.

Thirdly, although the verdict isn’t completely out, this start up will probably end up in the failed book.

source: WashintonPost

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