 | |
| Broadcast area | United States |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | HDTV1080i (downscaled toletterboxed480i for thestandard definition feeds) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery Global Linear Networks (95%) Harpo Productions (5%) |
| Key people | |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | January 1, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-01-01) |
| Replaced | Discovery Health Channel |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.oprah.com/own |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Affiliated streaming service(s) | |
| Philo | Internet Protocol television (IPTV) |
| YouTube TV | IPTV |
| Hulu + Live TV | IPTV |
| DirecTV Stream | IPTV |
TheOprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as theOWN Network) is an American multinationalbasic cabletelevision network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing theDiscovery Health Channel, which one month later merged withFitTV to become Discovery Fit & Health (now known asDiscovery Life). OWN is operated as a joint venture betweenWarner Bros. Discovery'snetworks division andHarpo Productions.
Founded by television personalityOprah Winfrey, the channel primarily focuses on lifestyle programming targeting a female audience, with an initial focus on programming with themes related to life improvement, relationships, and spirituality, and a particular focus on targetingAfrican Americans.
Initially a 50/50 joint venture, Discovery acquired a larger stake in the network in 2017 and again in December 2020, when Discovery increased its ownership in OWN from 73% to 95%. Harpo remains a "significant" minority stakeholder, and Winfrey is contracted with the channel through (at least) 2025. OWN competes with other networks aimed at African Americans such as theBET Media Group'snamesake channel and theE. W. Scripps Company'sBounce TV. As of February 2015, OWN is available to approximately 81.9 million pay television households (70.3% of households with television) in the United States.[1]
After becoming Discovery Communications' new CEO in 2007,David Zaslav foundDiscovery Health to be underperforming along with its otherdigital cable networks launched in the last decade, and taking in significantly lower carriage fees in comparison to the company's namesake,Discovery Channel. As a result, he began to explore the possibility of re-launching the channel as a joint venture with another partner. Zaslav's wife was an avid reader of Oprah Winfrey'sO magazine (a joint venture withHearst Corporation); believing that hervalues could serve as the basis for a cable network, he contacted Winfrey's agents to hold a meeting in April 2007.[2] On January 15, 2008, Discovery Communications officially announced that it had entered into a joint venture with Winfrey's studioHarpo Productions, under which it would re-launch Discovery Health as "OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network", in the second half of 2009.[2][3]
Winfrey would serve as the chairwoman of the channel, which was expected to deal in factual programming oriented towards her personal philosophy of "living your best life"; this would include topics such as health, love, parenting, and spirituality. Discovery provided $100 million in funding, and Harpo provided access to its library and Winfrey's website, Oprah.com.[2] As it was still under contract withCBS Television Distribution through May 2011, her existing syndicated talk showThe Oprah Winfrey Show was not expected to air on OWN, but there was a possibility that a spiritual continuation or successor to the program could air on OWN in the future.[2]
Winfrey and her long-time partnerStedman Graham had discussed the idea of forming her own channel as early as 1992. After Winfrey demonstrated discontent over"confrontational" talk shows on television, Graham suggested that she should form an "Oprah Winfrey Network" if she were dissatisfied with the current state of television.[2] OWN was not Winfrey's first cable television venture, having been co-founder of the women's cable networkOxygen. However, her involvement was limited to being an investor and eventually offering it an after-show component,Oprah After the Show, after deciding not to offer her reruns to the network; Winfrey distanced herself from Oxygen when discussing OWN, stressing the importance of actually having influence over programming when participating in such ventures.[2][3]
In November 2008, Zaslav stated that Winfrey had planned to not renew her contract with CBS forThe Oprah Winfrey Show beyond the 2010–11 season, and that the show could move to OWN in some form following the end of the syndicated run. Harpo Productions denied the report, stating that Winfrey "has not made a final decision as to whether she will continue her show in syndication beyond [2011]".[4] The development of OWN was affected by internal conflicts, as well as Winfrey's continued commitment to her talk show. Its launch was pushed back from its originally-announced target of 2009 to an unspecified date. Zaslav pressured Oprah into moving her talk show to the channel, believing that it could boost its business.[2]
In November 2009, Lisa Erspamer—a Harpo executive who had been a co-executive producer ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show since 2006—was named chief creative officer of OWN.[2] Due to her history of working with Winfrey, the appointment of Erspamer was seen as having stabilized OWN's development; network CEO Christina Norman described Erspamer's arrival as being an "injection of Oprah'sDNA" into the upcoming channel.[2][5] Later on November 20, Winfrey officially announced thatThe Oprah Winfrey Show would conclude in 2011, after its 25th and final season.[6] With the end of her talk show, Winfrey's commitments with Discovery were revised; a commitment for Winfrey to host a talk show on OWN and appear in at least 35 hours of programming per year, was replaced with a commitment to appear in at least 70 hours of programming per year, includingOprah's Next Chapter—a primetime interview series hosted by Winfrey.[2]
The official launch of OWN was set for January 1, 2011, so that it would occur while Oprah's talk show was still on the air. Plans now called for at least 600 hours of original programming in 2011, as well as acquired and library programming (including reruns ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show later in the year, andDr. Phil); although Winfrey did make appearances in some of the programming aired on-launch (such asOprah's Master Class), her involvement was expected to increase following the end ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show.[2] After the launch of OWN, Discovery Health's programming was merged into another Discovery-owned channel, FitTV—which rebranded as Discovery Fit & Health a month later on February 1, 2011.[7][8] It was subsequently re-branded again asDiscovery Life in 2015.[9]
During its first year of operation, OWN struggled to build an audience and viewership,[10] with most of its programs being low-rated besidesOur America with Lisa Ling (the first OWN program to be renewed for a second season), andSeason 25: Oprah Behind The Scenes. Its average viewership was 135,000 during its second month on air, which was lower than that of Discovery Health.[11][12] Norman defended the network's ratings, stating that first-run broadcasts of its original series were drawing larger audiences than those of Discovery Health, and that Discovery's goal was to improve OWN's monthly audience to between 50 and 60 million viewers by the end of the year.[11] In March 2011, the channel modified its schedule to only have three original nights of primetime programming per-week, movingOprah Behind The Scenes to Sunday nights alongsideOprah's Master Class.[12]
On May 6, 2011, OWN's CEO Christina Norman was removed, and replaced by Discovery executive Peter Liguori as an interim CEO.[13] In July, Winfrey assumed the role of CEO, and namedSheri Salata as a co-president.[5] As of September 2011, Discovery had invested $254 million in programming for OWN.[14] The October 2011 premiere ofWelcome to Sweetie Pie's brought notable gains to the fledgling channel: it was the network's highest-rated series to date, and boosted OWN's average primetime viewership to 216,000. The show was especially popular amongAfrican American audiences, which prompted OWN's executives to factor this demographic into its programming decisions and advertising sales going forward.[14] October 16 saw the premiere of a new Sunday program,Super Soul Sunday, which would include features and segments that "present an array of perspectives on what it means to be alive in today's world."[15]
The Rosie Show—a talk show hosted by another formerly-syndicated personality,Rosie O'Donnell—also premiered in October, to an average of 497,000 viewers (along with an additional million via a simulcast across sister channels Discovery Fit & Health,Investigation Discovery,Planet Green, andTLC).[16] By November, its ratings had fallen to an average of 171,000 nightly viewers.[17] In January 2012, an attempt was made to retool the program by hiring Shane Farley (producer of the syndicatedRosie O'Donnell Show), and giving it a smaller, more intimate studio.[5][18][19] However, viewership was still low, and the series was cancelled in March 2012.[20]
During its first year of operations, OWN's average primetime audience was 264,000 viewers. This was only slightly higher than the average primetime audience of 216,000 the channel had as Discovery Health.[5] On January 26, 2012, Lisa Erspamer resigned from OWN; she was replaced in the interim by veteran Discovery executive and former TLC vice president Rita Mullin.[5] A March 2012Oprah's Next Chapter interview withWhitney Houston's daughterBobbi Kristina Brown and her family (following Houston's death in February) became OWN's highest-rated single program to date, with 3.5 million viewers.[21]
The channel's losses were estimated to be $330 million as of May 2012.[22] Discovery responded by raising the channel'sretransmission consent fee (OWN was provided to cable providers effectively for free for its first two years on air) to a level more in line with other basic cable channels, a move that the company expected to allow the channel to break even in late-2013.[23]
On September 15, 2012, OWN premieredIyanla: Fix My Life—a reality series starringIyanla Vanzant. It attracted critical acclaim and a large audience; its two-night premiere event was seen by 1.1 and 1.6 million total viewers respectively. The Sunday-night airing was the third-highest-rated program of the night across ad-supported cable networks, and was the highest-rated program of the night among women 18-49 and African American women 25–54.[24][25][26]
By October 2012, OWN had seen increases in audience share, especially among women in thekey demographic.[27] That month, OWN also announced a planned expansion into scripted programming by means of an exclusive, multi-year development deal withTyler Perry—a long-time friend of Winfrey.[27] Perry's first two productions for OWN—the primetimesoap operaThe Haves and the Have Nots, and the sitcomLove Thy Neighbor—premiered on May 28 and 29, 2013 respectively.[28] The two-hour series premiere ofThe Haves and the Have Nots overtookLife with La Toya (1.18 million) as OWN's highest-rated series premiere to date, with the first episode attracting 1.77 million viewers, and growing to 1.8 million for the second.[29][30] The series continued to set viewership records for the channel, with its first-season finale drawing 2.6 million viewers, and the fifth episode of season 2 setting a network-record 3.6 million viewers.[31][32][33]
By July 2013, Discovery considered the network to be "cash flow positive".[34] In an interview withPeople, Winfrey revealed that in 2012, she had anervous breakdown over the channel's performance.Jason Russell had brought up the condition during an interview they were filming, which made Winfrey realize she was experiencing similar symptoms. She explained that "after 25 years of being number one, I had become accustomed to success. I didn't expect failure. I was tested and I had to dig deep", and that the scenario "forced me not to just talk the talk. Failure is a great teacher. I knew this intellectually. But it's another thing if you're living it.".[10]
In May 2016, Sheri Salata stepped down as co-president to launch a new "brand innovation" agency (although Winfrey and OWN were expected to be among her first clients). This left Erik Logan as sole president of the network.[35] The June 2016 premiere ofGreenleaf was OWN's highest-rated series premiere to date, with 3.04 million viewers.[36]Queen Sugar also premiered later in September to acclaim, with both series ranking among the top 5 ad-supported drama series on cable among women 25–54.[26]
In July 2017, Tyler Perry signed a new film and television/short form development deal withViacom for future productions (particularly onBET) through 2024;[26] the film deal began immediately, while the television/short form deal would begin after the end of his pact with OWN in May 2019. OWN stated that Perry's series would continue to air on the network through at least 2020, and that it would "continue to aggressively expand its roster of premium original scripted series."[26][37] In August of that year, OWN premieredBlack Love, a docuseries from filmmakersCodie Elaine andTommy Oliver on relationships within African-American communities. It was OWN's highest-rated unscripted series premiere to-date, with 1.2 million viewers.[38]
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, with Harpo remaining as a significant minority shareholder, and Winfrey remaining CEO. Winfrey also extended her exclusivity agreement with the network and Discovery through 2025.[39] In April 2018, OWN ordered two new series fromWill Packer—the dramaAmbitions and the dating showReady to Love.[40] In July 2018, Winfrey signed a non-exclusive, multi-platform content deal withApple Inc.; it is not expected to affect her role at OWN.[41]
Wired considered OWN to have had a "major stake" in the push towards more diverse portrayals of African Americans in television, whileIyanla Vanzant argued that OWN had been "celebrating the unseen" among African Americans with shows that "give the minds of the viewers a different interpretation than the one that's often put out in the world."[26]
In October 2018, network president Erik Logan announced that he would step down at the end of the year to pursue a job as head of content for theWorld Surf League. He will be succeeded by Tina Perry, who had worked business and legal affairs forMTV,VH1, and OWN.[42][43]
On June 9 and 10, 2020, OWN broadcastOWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?—a two-night special hosted by Winfrey that discussedsystemic racism andpolice brutality in U.S. society, in the wake ofprotests over thepolice murder of George Floyd. The special featured appearances by politicians such asStacey Abrams and Mayor of AtlantaKeisha Lance Bottoms, and other journalists and personalities. The special was simulcast by all Discovery networks, and was seen by an average of 7.3 million viewers across both nights.[44] Amid the concurrentCOVID-19 pandemic, the channel also greenlit two remotely-produced series for its "Sisterhood Saturday Night" block,Fear Not with Iyanla Vanzant and the celebrity talk showGirlfriends Check In.[45]
In December 2020, Discovery increased its ownership in OWN from 73% to 95% for $35 million in an all-stock deal, giving Harpo approximately 1.34 million shares in Discovery.[46]
In April 2022, Discovery Inc. merged withWarnerMedia to formWarner Bros. Discovery; the acquisition places OWN under common ownership withWarner Bros. Television—which has produced a number of OWN's recent scripted series.[47]
In May 2025,Charter Communications revealed through programming notices for Spectrum TV customers that OWN would be removed from Spectrum's TV Select package on July 14.[48] Charter shortly thereafter chose to remove OWN from the Spectrum TV lineup on that day, pointing customers towardsHBO Max for watching OWN programs.[49]
As of 2025, the network's programming consists primarily of lifestyle programming, including syndicated reruns oftalk andcourt shows (particularlyDr. Phil,Hot Bench, andJudge Mathis), and reruns of library lifestyle programming from other Warner Bros. Discovery channels.
In October 2012, OWN expanded into scripted programming by announcing an exclusive development deal withTyler Perry, beginning withThe Haves and the Have Nots andLove Thy Neighbor.[28] In February 2013, OWN ordered a third season of Perry's canceledTBS sitcomFor Better or Worse.[50] In January 2014, OWN ordered another drama from Perry,If Loving You Is Wrong, which was adapted from Perry's feature filmThe Single Moms Club.[51][52] In February 2015, OWN ordered new seasons ofFor Better Or Worse,The Haves and the Have Nots,If Loving You Is Wrong, andLove Thy Neighbor.[53] In November 2017, OWN announced premiere dates forThe Paynes (a spin-off of Perry's TBS sitcomTyler Perry's House of Payne), as well as the fifth and fourth seasons ofThe Haves and the Have Nots andIf Loving You Is Wrong.[54]
On February 2, 2015, OWN announced that it had orderedAva DuVernay's dramaQueen Sugar (based on theNatalie Baszilenovel of the same name) directly to series, marking OWN's first scripted series not produced by Tyler Perry.[55][56] This was followed in July byGreenleaf—a new drama fromCraig Wright with Winfrey as an executive producer, that follows the eponymous family's predominantly-African Americanmegachurch inMemphis, Tennessee.[57][58][59]
In July 2017,Queen Sugar was renewed for a third season, and Harpo Films signed DuVernay to a first-look television and digital media deal.[60] In August 2017, OWN also orderedTarell Alvin McCraney'sDavid Makes Man, a coming-of-age drama set inSouth Florida.[61][62] McCraney stated that he was given offers by other outlets such asNetflix, but that Winfrey (who had made a surprise visit when he visited the network to pitch the series) "from the start was wanting to open the story up and understand what it was about".[26]
OWN cancelledThe Paynes in August 2019.[63]
On August 20, 2021, it was reported that OWN was in negotiations to pick up the canceled CBS legal dramaAll Rise.[64] On September 29, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season scheduled to premiere in 2022; OWN acquired linear rights, whileHBO Max andHulu jointly acquired streaming rights.[47]
In Canada, the former Canadian version of Discovery Health, owned byShaw Media, did not become a Canadian version of OWN, instead shifting to a reality-based format known asTwist TV.[65] Instead,Corus Entertainment agreed to launch a Canadian version of OWN—its existing channelViva was re-launched as OWN on March 1, 2011.[66] On September 1st, 2024, due to Corus losing the rights to most WBD lifestyle and factual brands, OWN was closed down. On January 1st, 2025, Rogers Sports and Media took over all the rights, including OWN, moving its content to Citytv+. During January and February 2011, selected OWN programming aired on both Viva and the co-ownedW Network.[67] Both Shaw Media and Corus share common ownership interests from the J.R. Shaw family, but are considered separate companies.[68] Winfrey revealed toThe New York Times that she is in final negotiations to release the channel inBrazil andArgentina.[69]
In April 2013,TLC UK began to air an OWNblock.[70][71] The same programming block began airingDiscovery Home & Health in Australia on August 4, 2013.[72] It was announced on September 20, 2013, that the OWN Programming Block would begin airing in South Africa onDStv beginning October 17, 2013.[73] OWN Programming Block also debuted in Poland and Russia in August and September; it also debuted on October 28, 2013, in Balkans/Romania/Bulgaria.[74]
| Media works |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | |||||
| Related | |||||
| Broadcasting and FAST streaming group |
|  | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cartoon Network, Inc. |
| ||||
| Entertainment Group | |||||
| Lifestyle & Factual Group |
| ||||
| Defunct and former ventures |
| ||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
