Hipster Sounds Turn Your Office Into A Coffee Shop
Unusual Stuff

Oprah Winfrey Coming to Television 24/7

Posted 1/17/2008 9:20 am by and Andrew Sorcini

oprahwinfrey.JPGOprah Winfrey announced Tuesday that she has partnered with Discovery Communications to form her own cable television network. Her channel’s new name: OWN, which is an incredibly convenient abbreviation for Oprah Winfrey Network.

Oprah stated that her new channel will be set to premiere sometime in 2009. It will replace Discovery Health, the least successful of the corporation’s 13 cable networks, and be run in equal part by both Discovery and Oprah’s company Harpo, Inc.

Apparently, this deal was destined to be made. The San Francisco Gate reports that Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav contacted Oprah about starting such a project right after she had found a diary entry of hers dated May 24, 1992 where she explicitly wrote about wanting to create her own network in the future.

This is the latest development in the Winfrey Empire, which already includes a television show, satellite radio station, magazine, website and a production company that produces made-for-TV movies under Oprah’s moniker.

Starting one’s own network, however, comes with its own set of problems. Because of her deal regarding The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah is contracted to produce new episodes through 2011 and prohibited from rerunning those episodes elsewhere. So, while OWN will premiere in 2009, Oprah’s actual presence on her channel might be limited for its first couple years.

Many reports have surfaced that Oprah has already decided not to renew her contract after it runs out in 2011, but in reality she has until the fall to decide whether or not she will continue to televise The Oprah Winfrey Show via broadcast TV or solely through her cable network. Although it seems to make more sense to consolidate all Oprah-infused programs to one network, taking her talk show off broadcast television would severely diminish its number of viewers—thus making OWN far less valuable to Discovery and perhaps cursing the network before it even exists.

Image: Tech Shout

Enjoy this post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed and get instant updates!

Share this post, or Subscribe:

More Stuff Worth Checking Out »

Unusual Stuff

Paralyzed By Gas Station Nachos

Posted 5/18/2017 6:54 pm by

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

McDonald’s Lauches The Frork, And Also New Sandwiches

Posted 5/01/2017 6:40 pm by

McDonald’s is a company in transition.  The old favorites seem to be losing popularity; kids these days just don’t want Big Macs anymore.  That means time for a new invention, and it appears that McDonald’s is taking some cues from Japan by getting creative with their hamburgers.  McDonald’s is adding three new sandwiches to their […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Raiders Fleeing Oakland For Vegas, Baby

Posted 3/28/2017 8:29 am by

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

McDonald’s Blasts Number One Customer Donald Trump

Posted 3/16/2017 7:21 pm by

It’s not every day that a Twitter account dedicated to promoting McDonald’s as a business, but now it’s made a statement that will either increase business or cause a boycott and hashtag frenzy.  It’s all based on how you feel about President Donald Trump.  If you’re a fan, you’re booing.  If you’re not a fan, […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Tony Romo Leaving Dallas

Posted 3/08/2017 6:54 pm by

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Xbox One Adds Netflix-Style Subscription

Posted 2/28/2017 12:21 pm by

There’s a certain charm to having streaming services at your beck and call.  I don’t get to watch as much as I want, but when I get a chance to watch something on demand, I usually take it.  I love Netflix, and I’ve watched more bad movies on Netflix than I have any right to […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Whoops, Here’s The REAL Best Picture

Posted 2/27/2017 9:37 am by

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Queens Bull Captured After Merry Chase

Posted 2/21/2017 6:40 pm by

There’s the concrete jungle.  There’s the urban cowboy.  There’s all kinds of farm and animal metaphors that concern New York City, but none of them actually reflect the actual animals.  The bull market on Wall Street has little to nothing to do with actual bulls, so any time you see a strange animal loose on […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Tom Brady’s Jersey Stolen From Super Bowl LI Locker Room

Posted 2/06/2017 5:41 pm by

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Panic! US Bacon Reserves Hit 50-Year-Low

Posted 2/01/2017 7:01 pm by

As of right now, the United States Department of Agriculture has 17.8 million pounds of pork belly in storage.  Pork belly is the delicious part of the pig that turns into bacon when cured and fried.  It tastes good, smells better, and is even good for you!  It seems like a lot, but it’s actually […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Ben Affleck Keeps Cowl, Gives Up Director’s Chair

Posted 1/31/2017 7:42 pm by

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Concentration Camp “Escape Room” Shut Down

Posted 1/27/2017 7:37 pm by

There’s a new game genre out there.  Part simulation, part social game, part physical challenge, escape rooms are really popular.  You wander through a scenario, stuff happens, and you have to try to figure your way out in a certain amount of time.  I’ve done similar things, but I haven’t done a full-fledged escape room […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Fired IT Worker Locks College Out Of Accounts

Posted 1/17/2017 6:10 pm by

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]

Read »
Unusual Stuff

Yahoo To Become Altaba With New CEO

Posted 1/09/2017 8:51 pm by

There’s just a constant state of flux in one of the web’s biggest companies and the pre-Google version of Google.  Yahoo, limping along while its former corporate child Alibaba has become a major player in the online world.  Yet poor old Yahoo keeps struggling along, but maybe a new name will yield new fortunes?  Yahoo […]

Read »