Why is Oprah's OWN network such a failure?

It should have been much bigger than it is, and I'm surprised they're still in business.

Is it because she publicly supported Obama over Hillary, and turned off a lot of viewers?

If I remember correctly, she launched her network right around the same time as the 2008 presidential election.

But even beyond that, the shows and programming just sucks. It's so boring.

At this point, I'd rather even watch TLC and the 1000 pound sisters, rather than anything on OWN.

It's a shit network. It's not like they created it or drove it to make quality programming.

It was about making money and glorifying its owner.

Speaking of which, I had no idea until recently that it was Oprah who purchased one of the recovered Klimts at auction. Good for her.

BUT she later sold it to some unknown Chinese billionaire for a huge profit. She could have taken a loss and sold it to a museum to ensure it stays on display.

OWN? Virtually ALL the "networks" on cable are crap now. I really cannot figure out why anyone would waste money paying for cable tv.

It's kind of discouraging that she owns a major chunk of WW (formerly Weight Watchers) and is still a chunk herself.

Typical locust. She moves in and leaves destruction in her wake.

That would be her hips, R5.

She was in talks to collaborate with Oxygen, which ultimately did not happen. It's the pathway she SHOULD HAVE picked. Oprah was great an hour a day, and would have perhaps been good at extending that to a night, maybe two, of Oprah or Oprah-picked content.

But no one wants 24/7 of Oprah.

The programming has not been great. Aside from a few solid shows, it's repeating stuff from BET or showing very old, outdated stuff.

But programmers never learn - we now have the Magnolia Network which is about to make many of the same mistakes, assuming that people who love one one-hour show want to see that 24/7.

Maybe the network can have contests to give away cars to viewers.

Maybe they should have gotten Oprah to star in "Nightmare Alley", as it's not too far from her line of work, it seems.

It’s a failure? I just checked and for the next 24 hours, it’s lots of Dateline-type shows about true crime; missing and murdered women. There’s trash-TV staple Dr. Phil and some “couples court” show with a black judge couple.

It’s all well and good (I love the frau true crime stuff!) but it doesn’t really seem to match up with Oprah’s “positive” and uplifting spiritual aspirational woo-woo brand. Where’s her empowerment of women? Where’s the “know better, do better” programming? Where’s Iyanla?

Quick answer to this: She ended her show and then started the network. If she wanted eyeballs on the network she should have moved the show over to it for the last 2-3 seasons. Oprah was a loss leader for every local channel her show sold to because it guaranteed #1 newscasts that followed. (Channels paid more to license her show than they earned in commercial sales because the local channels keep 100% of the commercial revenue from their own news programming.

Can someone please translate what R11 wrote?

I don't understand corporate-speak.

Oprah has singlehandedly destroyed any credibility the weight watchers program had . She changed the name to WW. Who takes the most recognized name in the world and changes it??? Like changing Coca Cola to SAB ( sweet amazing beverage )

Marketing geared to 20 and 30 somethings sitting in restaurants enjoying eating and drinking ….. like it’s a commercial for a restaurant

Shamelessly hawking their wares at every meeting. Oh yeh, the meetings are called studios. The leaders are called coaches……..

If you weigh in, the weigher ( now called a guide) is NOT ALLOWED to say your weight aloud. They can only write it on a piece of paper -// Helen Keller ville ( w a t e r)

The subject is WELLNESS — it is just affreux — as a young Gayling i went to Weight watcher meetings with my dad —/ very helpful and fond memories of my dad

Didn't Oprah initially go to Oxygen (and change the name to 'Oh!') before launching OWN?

I cannot name one show on the OWN network.

If Oprah's OWN network flounders, she won't be just the owner, she will be owned (by her creditors) which is her biggest fear.

She should resurrect her talk show, to ignite interest.

Then she should do "shock shlock" shows to bring in the viewers.

Americans want to see Housewives, Jerry Springer, and Kardashians.

That's where the money is at.

She only owns 5%, Discovery owns 95%. According to Wiki her contract with Discovery ends in 2025 and somehow I doubt they'll bother renewing it.

Yes, r15 from her involvement with the Oxygen network, Oprah should have known that having a cable network meant more work than she was willing to put in. She shouldn't have accepted the Discovery money for another one (OWN) that she knew wouldn't be able to devote more time toward.

r17 - She's not the owner of OWN, she sold her name to the Discovery network for this

I think r11 was very clumsily trying to say that Oprah should have aired the final 2-3 seasons of her show on the new OWN network. But again, this speaks to Oprah's true lack of interest (other than having her name attached) in a cable network

From Wiki:

[quote]In December 2017, Discovery announced that it would acquire an additional 24.5% stake in OWN that it did not already own, for $70 million

[quote]In December 2020, Discovery increased its ownership in OWN from 73% to 95% for $35 million

So over three years the valuation almost halved.

R14- Oprah loves Bread , Cookies , Cakes , Pies, Pizza, Fried Chicken 🐔, Ice Cream 🍨, Donuts - anything with a high fat , high sugar content.

R17- Oprah is worth over $2.6 billion. She is NOT going to be poor anytime soon.

I’m no expert but from what I remember it was a lot of crappy Hallmark type of TV shows that were boring.

And then I think she went with trash TV like the Lindsay Lohan reality show.

Most networks have lost their identity and have no vision. OWN is just one more. All of that Tyler Perry crap did not help either. Then again, you could ask the same question of A&E, Bravo, the History Channel, etc. They all have gone to crap. It's even been a long time since CBS was the Tiffany Network, known for its quality.

OWN has two quality shows: Queen Sugar and David Makes Man.

R25- SO TRUE.

Back in the 1990’s A&E had some high quality shows like The House Of Eliot and Pride And Prejudice. About 2003 they totally cheapened the content.

We call CBS the Black Channel because it’s overcorrecting.

OWN is a Black Channel, too, but that’s to be expected, as it is for BET.

[quote] OWN has two quality shows: Queen Sugar and David Makes Man.

Don't forget us, bitch!

True. O as spokescow for WW might not be the best look.

No you don’t know what you’re talking about r24. Try again in another thread.

WW was always willing to give your weight discreetly. You just had to ask. One of my friends asked not to even be told what her weight was. :LOL! Which I found hilarious - she just wanted to know how much she had lost. I never remember anyone shouting out numbers, it was all very close so no one else would even hear. Not even sure what they wrote on her card - maybe they kept it for her so she would never have to look at it. She didn't stick it out but I did and lost 80 lbs.

The old WW worked fine and did the job. They just felt the need to add new shiny things to keep peoples' attention. When that is who you are attracting to WW then I wouldn't expect much from them in terms of being serious about losing weight. You either want to lose and take it seriously or you don't.

R2 Why should Oprah have to take a loss just because she's a Billionaire? I don't think any white Billionaires would be willing to take a loss, Eventhough they too can afford it.

She worked for everything she has and should be able to take full advantage of the system the same way white Billionaires do.

Fuck that painting. I love art too, but if I can make a massive fortune on a famous peace of art, I am going to take advantage of that opportunity. More money is always welcomed.

[quote] Why should Oprah have to take a loss just because she's a Billionaire?

Because it is an historical piece of artwork that needs to stay in the public eye for many reasons. And she had the money to do a decent thing. Though the new buyers have allowed it to be exhibited so far, it would be a shame if they withdrew that permission.

If we can't ask these things of billionaires, who can we ask them of.

Oprah should offer a free membership to Weight Watchers (ooops, WW) for the 1,000 lb sisters.

R34 White Billionaires have more billions and I don't see anyone asking them to lose hundreds of millions of dollars for the public intrest, nor do I think we should be asking a black billionaire to take a huge financial loss.

I know one thing, Oprah worked harder for her billions then the white ones did. I don't like the idea of her being asked to take a financial loss because she's a billionaire. She's black, so I think she should be exempt from such a request.

Of course people ask white billionaires to donate money and things like art. They do it all the time. It's not a loss, it's a donation.

Why have you made this a racial thing? GTFO.

Not to change the subject, but the hell happened to Headline News? They have news for like 8 hours a day and the other 16 hours are just repeats of Forensic Files.

Oprah just doesn't carry the clout that she used to, and more and more people are questioning who she has given her seal of approval to over the years.

For every Obama there has been two Dr. Phil's or that guy with The Secret book. Sketchy guru's.

I think Dr. Oz running for government is going to be a major blow to her brand. She can distance herself all she wants from him, but he only got to national prominence because of her.

R33 White Billionaires make donations to museums all the time!

Oprah didn’t gift it to a museum because it wouldn’t be high profile enough. She is a generous woman, as her schools in Africa and major role in funding the AA Museum show. But, lets face it, unless her name and face is plastered all over it, she won’t give a dime.

Oprah paid her own money for that painting and she should benefit from the investment on the return she received when she sold it.

Who cares if she sold it to an anonymous Chinese billionaire? They made her a offer that was to good to turn down and she took advantage of it. I would too. It's her money!

She's playing the game just like all of other billionaires are. Remember, she started with humble beginnings.

My 21 year old nephew has no idea who Oprah Winfrey is.

I'd say that's likely true for almost anyone under 25. It's been 10 years since Oprah was on the air.

R42 He probably doesn't know who the president and vice president is either. But then again, he's a zoomer so...

r43 My definitely definitely knows who the President is. And the vice president. He was excited to vote in his first presidential election back in 2020.

[quote] Why is Oprah's OWN network such a failure?

Because Oprah is a failure.

I love eating Oprah's pussy!

I red somewhere a few years ago, Oprah is leaving Gayles two children $150 million dollars apiece. That's $300 million dollars collectively to Gayles kids.

The rest to various causes.

R41, you just made her seem like a disgusting whore. The fact that she made some huge killing on them is already distasteful enough. That painting along with the other recovered Klimts stolen by the Nazis and later the Austrians from the Block-Bauers are historically and morally significant.

R41 seems to think as long as Oprah behaves like "any other billionaire" than it's no big deal". Well sorry. Oprah has built her brand on doing the right and moral thing. People expect better of her.

Oprah was cancelled by white Americans after the 2008 election.

Oprah lost me when she hit the election trail with Michelle Obama for Joe Biden & went on to call America a racist nation that randomly murders blacks in the streets, that white supremacy & white privilege have robbed blacks of progress, and all the familiar race huckster bullet points that were pleaded into a camera during the 2020 election. I was very disappointed, especially because they're two black Americans who could have offered black America inspiration & hope as living examples, but no. Instead they offered paranoia & doom. What a let down. What a way to exploit the people they were claiming to help while they were also claiming everyone else had sacrificed them.

I still can’t believe they changed the name from the iconic and alliterative three syllables “Weight Watchers” to the clunky tongue-twisting six syllables “Double-ew double-ew”. I keep wanting to add a seventh: “eff”.

Oprah herself is a failure.

With a capital L.

R57 Hwy deplorable, I think you mean Trump.

This isn't even Oprah's network anymore. It's like those trump buildings that he's licenses his name to. He didn't build them. He just rents his name to them. And now they all want to remove his name because he's POISON

Oprah sold this network but was able to wrangle a percentage of it for herself and I'm they pay her a fortune in licensing fees for her name. She also gets them to air some shows she produces, Super Soul Sunday and a few other things.

She's smart. It's a lot of work to run a network. Even if you hire other people to do it. It's a shame because we could use a really good arts/entertainment channel.

R54 You sound stupid as fuck! Republicans are currently trying to turn the United States into a fucking fascist white patriarchal white ethno state. By rigging the system and taking the rights of black Americans away from them to vote, and you think it's Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey whose giving black Americans a scenes of paranoia and doom?

It must be be great to be white and live life through rose colored sunglasses and be in denial about what's going on in America currently.

And I guess George Floyd didn't happen either.

Dictator Trump says hello!

I also find it incongruous that Oprah has such a steak in WW when her network aired a show with Britney Cooper, who spent much of the hour promulgating to an audience primarily of corpulent black women that Donald Trump & the micro-aggressions of white America keeps her & them fat--no matter much effort they expend dieting & exercising! Oprah certainly knows how to rally the support she needs from the people she needs when she needs to benefit from it. Shrewd & shameless.

White supremacy is a Cancer that needs to die fast.

I wish she would bring back her daily show. 5 days a week at 4pm.

[quote] I wish she would bring back her daily show. 5 days a week at 4pm.

The bitch is too busy feeding her fucking face!!

R41 Please go back to LSA.

And don’t forget to drop off at WW on the way over.

Agree that she should have started OWN *before* she ended her "Oprah" talk show. She should have put the last two seasons or so of "Oprah" on OWN. (As someone else said, above.)

I think she was trying to raise the bar of TV but that wasn't paying the bills, so she ended up interviewing Kim Kardashian, etc.

Also, TV in general has just gone downhill (NBC, ABC, etc.).

Finally, maybe just bad planning on Oprah's part. 24 hours of programming per day is a lot to fill. Her channel seemed like there was no good plan to fill those 24 hours.

So you guys don't binge watch Love and Marriage Huntsville? No? Just me..... jk

I watch that sometimes R67

Does anyone watch The Tamron Hall Show? They air it on OWN.

I like Tamron, but I don't love her show. She's no Oprah.

My aunt belonged to weight watchers in the seventies and if you were the member that gained the most weight, you had to wear the pig mask for the meeting. Sounds kinda cruel but FUNNY and it worked ,she lost 100 lbs.

R69 LOL, a pig mask? I had no idea weight watchers was around since the 70s.

I was born in the late 80s by the way.

R67 I've seen a but of marriage Huntsville.

R65 I don't frequent LSA. But you seem to know more about it then me.

[quote]incongruous that Oprah has such a steak in WW

Meaty typo!

Harpo only has a 5% stake in OWN now.

Oprah doesn't give a fuck! She's made her money already. I've heard she wrll invested too. Like she owns a lot commercial real estate across the United States and she owns a stake in all kinds of companies people don't even know about.

I bet she has all kinds of income and checks coming her way every day week month althoughout the year. She has it coming in like that.

So is Oprah officially retired, R74?

She's just another cash-grabbing billionaire. Her Sirius/XM channel played out much like her cable network. Get huge payout at inception, desert it and then her name is removed because she's moved onto to the next payday something else (Weight Watchers, Apple TV). This way she gets $$$ and publicity that she really doesn't have to work for.

[quote] Like she owns a lot commercial real estate across the United States

Does she have any interest in those companies that are buying up single family homes around the country and renting them out as vacation homes, etc.

Here is why it is a failure. She refused to do the Oprah show on it. She thought she was above all of the things that made her famous. She refused to do reality shows because she thought they were trashy and when she finally did she called them docu-series. She had a complete lack of understanding of why she was popular.

Oprah and her concerns seem so last century like pet rocks and Cabbage Patch Kids.

R57- Oprah is O verweight with a capital O.

Oprah's moral superiority and yearning for truth was magnified by her hard hitting interview with their royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Just splendid.

I hate her doing these tacky PR "interviews".

Harry and Meghan -- Jesus F*cking Christ.

Adele -- God help us all.

It’s because none of the studs on any of Tyler Perry’s OWN shows show any ass crack.

I am not sure I have ever watched anything on OWN but considering it replaced The Discovery Health Network, which I also never watched, what is the damage really?

"Kings of Napa" premieres tonight.

R70- Weight Watchers started in 1963.

She shelled out a shit ton of Money to Lindsay Lohan of all people to document her "come back" that was a fucking disaster.

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