Oprah Becomes OWN CEO

Oprah is taking complete control of her struggling OWN network by becoming its new CEO.

The move was announced on Wednesday. Sheri Salata and Erik Logan, the co-presidents of Harpo, will also become presidents of OWN.

In a letter posted on Facebook, Oprah said that she was ready to take charge:

So as of today... Harpo Team and OWN team become ONE.

Our intention is to use the cable platform and the internet platform and the mobile platform to create messages that fill you up and bring you to new levels of awareness about yourself, ourselves, and our world; our potential...

It's an incredible challenge ahead trying to figure out what kind of shows and programming will resonate with you, inspire you, bring a little piece of light into your already crowded existence. But I feel called to do it, and will be relying on your feedback, emails and tweets and message boards to let me know what you think.

OWN, which launched in January, has been floundering in the ratings, undergone a network overhaul and seen one CEO depart. Oprah has admitted that the channel is "not where I want it to be." But she signaled at a conference in June that she would be taking more direct oversight of the network.

In her letter, Oprah also announced that Rosie O'Donnell's OWN talk show will launch October 10.

Comments

[julietrecamier]

03:14 PM on 07/17/2011

Ah, Oprah; you're learning that all that glitters for you is not gold.

There is humility to be had in everyone, and we are never too old to learn new lessons in life.

[iRock]

01:42 PM on 07/17/2011

I wish oprah much success in this venture. It will be a tough one, but she's never shied away from a challenge.

The fun is in figuring it out and eventually making it work.

[Hugo Stiglitz1]

01:25 PM on 07/17/2011

go away

[ultrabop]

01:07 PM on 07/16/2011

maybe people don't wish to fill their lives with Oprah.

[repugnicansfearme]

08:54 AM on 07/16/2011

Was it a huge BM?

[houstondemocrat]

09:50 PM on 07/15/2011

Get rid of "Dr." Phil, that would be a start

[bdazz]

09:14 PM on 07/15/2011

The problem I think is that the shows are dull. "Finding Sarah" is just boring. The Oprah Show was great..but the long version needs to be tuned up. You can only watch so much motivational programming. She needs to mix it up with some entertainment that will allow her viewers to escape. Women are busy in real life so that is why the show worked so well. They got everything they needed in that one hour..but now that it's on 24/7 they don't know what to do with it.

[Spartacle12]

09:12 PM on 07/15/2011

the only thing that's gonna help OWN is if Oprah relaunches her show and puts it on the network and then pulls in as soon as she can all the other shows she's been producing - Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Rachel, etc. Either way, I think she's got an Icarus thing going on here. She's no Ted Turner.

[DarkTruths]

08:15 PM on 07/15/2011

Wow. Oprah in control. What were the odds? (See, Mike, I told you she'd only be gone for about 10 seconds.)

[kirk barnes]

07:30 PM on 07/15/2011

please tweet me and facebook me and tell me what to do to get you to pay for my network...

[orchids8]

05:41 PM on 07/15/2011

Would have loved to see a new innovative network succeed but crony TV (a.k.a. OWN) is like watching the Oprah Show 24/7, very tedious. Yes, she did spin off some guests into successful shows like Drs. Phil and Oz but an entire network of Oprah's friends gets very dull. Some new shows produced elsewhere may break up the monotony.

[fairwayhill]

05:05 PM on 07/15/2011

Looks like Oprah is in a bad investment trap. She will loose a lot of money either if she stays or leave. The best choice is to leave and concentrate on what she is good at, a talk show host.

[RebootTheMedia]

02:44 PM on 07/15/2011

For a network committed to "create messages that fill you up and bring you to new levels of awareness about yourself, ourselves, and our world; our potential…" it is surprising the way they treat their former (female) CEO -- an otherwise very successful television executive. OWN can talk the empowerment talk -- but does it walk the walk? http://wp.me/pV6qJ-in

[scorpioleidy]

12:36 PM on 07/15/2011

Please, just go away.

[scorpioleidy]

12:30 PM on 07/15/2011

25 years of this woman is enough - be gone, already!!!