Numbers Don’t Lie :: Oprah’s OWN Channel Is Tanking

The semi-retired Oprah Winfrey and her OWN Channel are in trouble. Apparently, the ratings have not been good. Only 109,000 viewers tune in daily. That’s about 250,ooo less than when the channel first began in January 2011. This means that only one-third of the expected viewers are actually watching consistently. These numbers are worse than the channel it replaced — Discovery Health. An OWN staff member said,

“The problem with OWN seems to be if it’s not Oprah all the time, people have very little interest in watching….”The turnover at OWN has been so high, so many execs have left. There have been three huge regime changes since the network started.”

Oprah also explained:

“It’s a lot harder than I ever imagined. If anybody asks you if you want a network, think about that.”

In order to increase the ratings, the staff has decided that Oprah needs to appear on more of the shows. So, now she has to throw away the idea of retirement in order to rescue her channel. She will appear in a show called “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” and she will also appear in a show called “Oprah’s Life-class.” Of the new “Life-class” Show, a staff member explained:

“Oprah’s Lifeclass was originally named Encore. Originally, Encore was going to be a basic, no-frlls, best-of repackaging of the Oprah Winfrey Show, with simple voiceover commentary from Oprah. With the numbers for OWN being so horrible, Discovery (Oprah’s partners on the new OWN Channel) insisted that Oprah have more of a presence on the network, so they’re scrambling. Now Oprah’s in full hair and makeup, videotaping commentary for Lifeclass every day. It’s her in a chair in front of a green screen. They’re turning what was going to be an Oprah phone-in into a full-fledged show.”

After the first episode, which will air on October 10th, Oprah will chat online with fans, live, for four days in order to promote the show. The staff is hoping that the two new shows, along with Rosie O’Donnell’s show (Rosie Show) which will both begin in October, will increase the ratings greatly. Discover is also now also putting ads on 14 other channels, for promotion.

Source: FOX

-@Kami2Kute