I don’t really think we have anything to worry about. Oprah is not going to go down the path of Bob Johnson. She will join only one other Black Owned network I can think of, TV One.
However, I will be interested to see what kind of programming she’ll have. She has noted that the channel will offer “shows that make my heart sing.” The Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN, will premier in 2009. Don’t you just love that…OWN!!! You betta use the power of words, girl!!! The channel will be replacing Discovery Health Channel. I love the Discovery Health Channel, so I’m sad to see it go. All those baby shows are really compelling. LOL Under terms of the partnership, Winfrey will serve as chairman of OWN, a 50-50 ownership split between Discovery and her media company, Harpo Productions.
In other news, several news sources are reporting that Oprah’s website has received a whole lot of abuse and negative comments since the queen of daytime joined Barack Obama on a tour of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina in mid-December. The focus seems to be on the fact that she is choosing a man over Hillary, a woman.
Yet a backlash by Clinton supporters appears to have prompted a rethink by Winfrey, the African-American media titan who is routinely described as the most influential woman on television.
She did not reappear in the final days before the New Hampshire primary – which Obama lost to Clinton – and has been absent from the most recent campaigning in South Carolina, which votes next weekend.
Obama aides believe that Winfrey will return to the campaign. Her own staff noted last week that in addition to her daily broadcasts on television and satellite radio, she has also been busy negotiating a multi-million-dollar deal with the Discovery cable network – Timesonline UK
Very intersting…let’s see how this plays out.