Top shows include Master Class, in which leading figures offer life lessons; Your OWN Show, an Apprentice-style competition that eventually will give the winner his or her own series; and a weekly "behind the scenes" look at the production of the 25th and final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show, daytime TV's biggest success.
Winfrey will introduce her Master Class subjects, and become one herself in a later episode, part of a plan to increase her presence on the network.
Derek Baine, an analyst at industry consultant SNL Kagan, says cable systems "were not convinced she was fully committed to being on the air," forcing Discovery to insist on doubling her presence to 70 hours a year. (Winfrey was an early investor in Oxygen, helping to secure its launch, but quickly distanced herself from that channel, which is now owned by NBC.)
As a result, "expectations are really high" for the network, which could magnify inevitable failures, he says. "If things don't work right away, they will have to make changes more immediately than they probably would" at a typical start-up.
Though Winfrey — the first celebrity to have her name on a network — inspires enviable loyalty among fans, OWN executives are careful about overpromising, though ad buyers say the network is seeking premium ad rates. "Having someone add something new to their routine of watching television is a big deal," says the channel's president, former MTV chief Christina Norman.
"I know that as I start out on this next chapter, there are going to be some mistakes," Winfrey said at a conference last week. "I know nothing new is perfect, but I'm not scared."
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