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Permalink to Oprah: Do You Know How HARD it is to Build My Own Network?

Oprah: Do You Know How HARD it is to Build My Own Network?

by Angie Sanders|on July 20, 2012 |in What's on TV |tagged , , , , , |4 Comments

Fox hit the airwaves in 1986 with only one show, The Late Show, hosted by Joan Rivers. The show tanked after only one year.

The network regrouped and attacked prime time with shows like Married with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show. They added one show each week for the next few weeks. Fox struggled along but now, after 16 years, it’s legitimate in the eyes of the viewing public. However, it’s still the butt of many jokes because of its gang of failed programs.

So why is it that we—myself included—expect Oprah to accomplish with OWN in just a few months what it took Rupert Murdoch years to do with Fox?

On March 28, I wrote a post about Oprah’s obvious problems with OWN, but after watching the first five minutes of  Oprah Builds a Network part one, which aired on July 8 on OWN, the media mogul’s honesty and candidness set me straight.

“No one will ever understand what it took to do that last year… and while at the same time trying to build a network…” she explained. “I can honestly say that I wasn’t committed to the network because I was committed to [The Oprah Winfrey Show].”

Oprah’s name precedes her, and that often makes us forget that she’s human, just like us. One person making the leap from producing a one-hour television show to a 24-hour network is seemingly impossible effort. Her admissions during this show were the first we’d heard her utter about how tough this feat has been to pull off—even for her. “In this particular instance, being Oprah was a great asset and a detriment because it raised the bar and expectation for this little network beyond anything that I was capable of doing on my own,” she said.

She went on to say that she and her team were nowhere near ready to launch OWN, but media hype and public expectation propelled them forward. Oprah sounded as if she regretted launching with such a bang and not being able to build slowly and see her vision come to fruition.

“I wanted to move forward with the network in a way that would be progressive and that would be thoughtful and that would be innovative and that would be inspiring,” Oprah said. “That was my vision. None of that happened.”

At a dinner party, Lorne Michaels, writer and producer of Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and 30 Rock fame, put things in perspective a bit for her.

“This thing you’ve taken on is huge. It’s big,” he said to her. “And nobody wants to see you sashay from the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show into this new business and everything go okay. You’re going to have to pay your dues. You’re going to have to learn the hard way. And you’re going to have to use the word mother*$ker a couple of times.”

Michaels also advised her to physically position herself on or somewhere very close to the network to ensure her vision is executed properly.

Here I am trying to run a little company and I’m judging Oprah for launching an entire television network.  And for that, I’m sorry. She’s encountered programming hiccups and Twitter gaffes along the way, but what’s important to note about Oprah is that she keeps going. That gives me motivation to keep pushing along with my miniature endeavor in comparison.

Set your DVR to catch the replay of Oprah Builds a Network parts one and two on Sunday, July 22 from 6-8 p.m.

Permalink to Oprah’s Got Problems of her OWN

Oprah’s Got Problems of her OWN

by Angie Sanders|on March 28, 2012 |in What's on TV |tagged , , , , , |1 Comment

Rosie O’Donnell and 30 Oprah Winfrey Network staff members got the ax last week.

I know what you’re thinking. Don’t all of Rosie’s shows disintegrate after a predetermined period of time on air? No, this time it isn’t her fault. Well, not entirely.

The magic from The Oprah Winfrey Show just hasn’t transferred to OWN the way we all expected it to. And after an infusion of more than $300 million and the threat of a $142.9 million loss in 2012, this failed transference has left Discovery Communications wondering if their Mother Goose still has what it takes to lay the golden eggs.

But mega daytime talk TV star plus millions of adoring viewers divided by a dedicated network equals a smash success money-maker, right? Wrong.

Think about it. You know how you felt when you were in middle school and your ace since elementary school moved away because her father was assigned to another military base? Yeah, this is a bit how Oprah’s viewers feel. Considering this analogy, it’s easy to see why OWN’s rise to the successful network everyone anticipated is a bit stalled:

  1. Oprah sold the home she’d lived in for 25 years and moved to a bigger house in a town that’s 45 minutes away.
    For a quarter century, viewers were used to tuning in to the same channel at the same time to spend time with their friend. Oprah created an intimate and cozy environment in which she and her audiences could curl up on a plush couch, have tea, and be themselves freely. Although she gave her fans a year to get used to the idea of their friend moving away, it didn’t register until it actually happened. They promised her they’d visit, but in the end, they’re hanging on to the memories.
  2. No one knows her new address, and she expected everyone to find the house on their own.
    Oprah tried to convince her followers that this move would be good for everyone and that her new home would be great. However, now that she’s gone, no one can say off the tops of their heads where this new house actually is. Do you make a right at MTV and an immediate left at Oxygen? Or is it out near the high-definition CNN and HGTV channels?
  3. She’s having a hard time decorating her new house with pieces people will actually want to look at.
    Pieces that vary in size along with the right accessories can give a smaller home a stylish and homey feel. However, decorating a bigger space is more of a challenge. Oprah was able to fill her previous one-hour show with the appropriate mix of guests, audience participation, and her own personality. Because she’d amassed so much material, she was able expand with Oprah After Hours, and fill the additional hour nicely. But a whole network, which requires 24-hour programming? The extra pieces in the Public Storage unit aren’t going to cut it. The challenge has been to find programming that will capture the audience’s attention but stay within the ideas that are associated with Oprah’s brand.
  4. Her house doesn’t look like Bravo’s or VH-1′s.
    There’s a difference between spending the night at grandma’s house on the farm and sleeping over at your cool auntie’s condo in the city. The same idea applies to television programing. We all say we want networks to air more positive programming. Programming that uplifts not undermines. But we lie. When those shows air, their ratings suffer. Why? Because we’re too busy parked in front of the tube for some Real Housewives, Basketball Wives, or any other unmarried women with reality shows (myself included). Hey, I ain’t perfect. On the other hand, there are dramas out there that walk the line between guilty pleasure and critical acclaim. OWN’s challenge will be to find/develop programming that feeds both those audience cravings.