Having never really been a fan of Oprah, and having never been able to understand her draw, I was none too surprised to hear of the recent financial troubles currently being experienced by her beleaguered cable channel. Apparently the losses being suffered over there are now very rapidly approaching a staggering $330 million, at least according to a recent report issued just this past weekend. Things have gotten to the point where many so-called industry insiders now believe that the channel, known the Oprah Winfrey network (OWN), may not last another year unless they can manage to come up with a hit show and are able to make a dramatic turnaround. For those of you who may have never taken the opportunity to stop by OWN, you have not, therefore, been subjected to the most boring line up of programming in all of cable or satellite television.
Though ratings have seen a slight resurgence thanks primarily to the interview program, Oprah's Next Chapter, it has stumbled since the get go with ratings of a paltry 308,000 daily. Ranks right up there with MSNBC. Anyway, it is believed shows which do not feature the chat show queen herself are not very popular with viewers. Discovery, which partnered with Winfrey to launch the network and has been underwriting its costs, has invested nearly $600 million in it since 2008, according to an extensive report in Businessweek magazine. Since it started on the air in January 2011, it may have lost as much as $330 million, according to the magazine. David Zaslav, the chief executive officer of Discovery Communications who talked Oprah into the idea of OWN, is famously impatient with money-losing operations within his company and insiders say he will not put up with the ailing network's losses for much longer.
I was just two weeks ago that Winfrey appeared before advertisers essentially pleading for more time, telling them: 'I am in the climb of my life. I am climbing Kilimanjaro.' So I guess when all else fails, you just whine and complain. As I've already mentioned the obvious root cause here is lousy programming. And whoever it is that's in charge of deciding what programs are selected needs to be fired. And although Winfrey doesn't really risk losing a whole lot of money here from the channel's failings, her supposed 'reputation' is said to be at stake here. Over her 39-year career, The Oprah Winfrey Show had as many as 12.5 million viewers. O, The Oprah Magazine had more than two million subscribers. And her Internet site, Oprah.com, draws more than three million unique visitors a month. Her image as the most successful TV star of her generation is hanging in the balance. Imagine her embarrassment!
It was back in March that it was announced Rosie O' Donnell's talk show, The Rosie Show, had been axed by the network after only six months. It had debuted with 500,000 viewers but within a few short days the number of viewers had plummeted to roughly half of that. The TV divas both released statements, with Rosie saying she 'wished the show was able to attract more viewers.' She added in a statement: 'I loved working with Oprah in the amazing city of Chicago. I was welcomed with open arms and will never forget the kindness of all I encountered.' In a statement, Oprah Winfrey said: 'I thank Rosie from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. She has been an incredible partner, working to deliver the best possible show every single day. 'As I have learned in the last 15 months, a new network launch is always a challenge and ratings grow over time as you continue to gather an audience'.
However, something that shouldn't come as surprise to absolutely anyone, especially dealing with individuals who have such a high opinion of themselves, it was just a week after they released these statements, that it was reported the pair were not even on speaking terms because, apparently, Rosie was none too happy with the way the press release was worded announcing her show was being unceremoniously dumped. Personally, I just think that's hilarious. I mean the egos at play here are simply huge. And you'll not find two more sanctimonious bitches anywhere on the planet. Whenever it is that things go wrong for these people, it can never be perceived as being their fault. It always has to have been caused by some outside forces. Some 'right wing conspiracy, or something like that. The problem can't be lousy programming, it must be that people are refusing to watch because of some bias. I'm surprised I have heard anyone say the folks aren't watching because Oprah is black.
It was back in February, that Winfrey, the media mogul that she is, came under fire after she made a controversial, and rather unorthodox, bid to resuscitate sagging ratings on Twitter. Competing for viewers on the same night as this year's Grammy Awards, she took to the micro-blogging site to ask, really to beg, her 9.2 million followers: 'Every 1 who can please turn to OWN especially if u have a Nielsen box.' The tweet was deleted, Ms Winfrey said, 'at the request of Nielsen', which prohibits clients from attempting to influence ratings. A backlash of comments followed, with several Twitter users accusing Ms. Winfrey of 'being desperate'. Gee, ya think. I don't know, maybe it's me, but it always appears as being little unseemly to appear so desperate, especially when you're as obvious about it as Ms. Winfrey was. I just don't think that appeals to all that many people. Now it may play big in the black community, but I just don't think it works well anywhere else.
Ya know, we may not ever want to admit it to ourselves, but every once and a while there comes a time when you've just got to be able to recognize the fact that certain things just aren't in the cards for you. And no matter how hard you try, it just ain't gonna happen. And how you choose to handle those unexpected little occurrences reveals a lot about you as a person. And when you find yourself essentially living in denial and resorting to, quite literally, actually begging for viewers, I think it makes very clear that there is very significant lack of any self-respect. When you allow your ego to control your behavior I think you actually diminish yourself in the eyes of those who once looked upon you with a certain sense of respect. I'd say the time may have now arrived for Ms. Winfrey to fold her tent and just move on. Frankly I'm somewhat surprised that she hasn't yet approached her boy Barry regarding some sort of bailout.
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