News
Oprah Winfrey's Cable Channel has Staggering Losses of Over $330 Million Dollars!
Courtesy/HarpoProds
Bad news for Oprah! Her cable network vision and dream, OWN, has been handed devastating financial numbers, according to a piece out from the New York Post!
According to the NY Post: “The losses at Oprah Winfrey’s stumbling cable channel are approaching a staggering $330 million, according to a report over the weekend. And now industry insiders are predicting the Oprah Winfrey Network will not be able to survive another year if it does not find a hit show and make a dramatic turnaround. Discovery, which partnered 50-50 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 Business Week 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. “I really can’t see Zaslav losing this kind of money for much longer,” one longtime business associate said last week.
As for Winfrey, She appeared before major advertisers two week ago to ask for more time! “I am in the climb of my life,” she told them. “I am climbing Kilimanjaro.” Though Winfrey herself has relatively little money invested in the channel, her image as the most successful TV star of her generation is on the line.
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maybe if she had not have dumped the Soap Fans, things would be different. And Oprah it is never too late to SAVE OUR SOAPS TO SAVE YOURS.
amen! you dumped your loyal core like garbage. right the wrong and get all the soaps you can. new and old.
Your right robert in jersey city, Turn her dopy network into a soap bubble channel, Produce new ones, bring back the many soaps that have been cancelled, Starting with one life to live, and put the emmys on. Hopefully its not to late .
I agree. She should have. They people would have paid the extra $30 (in some areas) to get her channel. More viewers, more revenue.
She quickly turned down helping to bail out the soaps that she claimed to love – AMC and OLTL, since she didn’t think she could make money on them. Look at the junk she has on her network – reality shows (whose reality???), her friend Gayle seems to be guaranteed a job wherever Oprah goes. The article says O has little of her own money invested…why not kick some cash in, give our soaps another chance. After Oprah turned them down, I have little interest in her network.
Yes when Oprah turned her back on soapfans we realized Oprah was a heartless person. The TV program only had her name and was run by the real caring people behind the scenes. Who does she think was watching when her show followed GH ?
Welcome to Sweetie Pies and Are You Normal what is she thinking? She lost all her fans that needed her to save our soaps so now she is going down fast-now she thinks these 2 stupid shows one reality(really) and a game show(o please) is going to save her-thats not gonea happen NO ONE WANTS ANOTHER GAME OR REALITY SHOW WAKE UP OPRAH WE WANT OUR STORIES
Maybe if she took AMC and OLTL on her network from day one, that would gain viewer interest; then look for a time slot once the views are there for new episodes.
Put One Life To Live back on and the viewers and dedication will follow! Right your wrong Oprah Winfrey!
Hmmm Oprah or Katie how about neither! They all told us soaps were dead you know that we would like to watch Oprah talk to a man who was married to a woman with two heads! How about this, lets sit down and tune into ATWT,AMC,OLTL,Guiding Light,and Another World. What do you think?
At this point, I am not sure what can save OWN, but putting AMC and OLTL on her Network certainly could not have hurt, and could have possibly helped by bringing in new viewers. I am sure if you ask people what channel OWN is on their cable networks, a majority of them will not know.
hello michael fairman i have written you many times about oprah winfrey. put all my children and one life to live on own. but oprah winfrey did say no to the soap operas. now she is desperate. please oprah i am giving you one more chance. put the soaps on your network and you will see your ratings going up and up. if you don’t listen to us your network is cancelled.
This is, as Carolyn Hinsey says, “Only My Opinion”, but I think Oprah would be much more successful if she added more variety to her programming. Most of Oprah’s shows are some sort of reality/life/talk show, which doesn’t really appeal to everyone. And the other shows she has (the crime/murder documentaries) can easily be found on other channels (I.D/Bio). I think what she needs is one show of each genre like PBS and affiliates do. Put in an hour of news, an hour of drama (I don’t really care if it’s a soap or not), an hour of comedy (could… Read more »
I’d also just like to say that whether it’s Katie or Oprah hosting, I still wouldn’t watch. Talk shows really just don’t interest me. If I watch any talk show at all, it’s usually Ellen.
What you said is such common sense. OWN is doomed because Oprah cannot realize this.
Well anyone that thnks people wants to see lifestyle shows non stop is nuts.Looks like these other networks would see this to.Look at ABC and NBC they seem to think that is what daytime should be,Talk,lifestyle and cooking.More and more cable channels are going into scripted shows.Looks like these nitwits would see dime a dozen talk,reality and cooking shows or over and everyone is tired of them.She needs some soaps to draw attention to her network.ABC soapers are lost without there soaps and would be more then grateful to watch Own if they where there.She needs to see her vision… Read more »
Perhaps Oprah should have produced All My Children and One Life to Live, instead of alienating millions of daytime fans by refusing to do so. Those same fans who watched her show for years — and she simply kicked them to the curb. I have never watched OWN and I am disgusted with the huge amount of money invested in her network — only to have it fail. Shame, shame.
Amen! I have NEVER once watched OWN. None of the programming looked remotely interesting. All that money wasted and millions of disappointed soap fans. Karma anyone?
I couldn’t have said it better, Sadie. What a waste of financial resources by OWN not backing the soaps. What viewer loyalty exists on any one show on her network these days? Only the soaps have loyal viewers.
You said it sadie soaper, It’s a waste of money, And shame on oprah for kicking the soap fans that made her a very huge amount of money over 25 years, to the curb.Like MBmomof3 says, Karma anyone ?
Oprah
“One Life To Live” is the only thing that will make me tune back in to any daytime television other than “General Hospital, since that show now has a crossover with “One Life To Live”
Gee, I wonder what programming could possibly save the troubled OWN network? HMMM, let me see…..(scratching my head). Sounds like she should have taken another look at the soaps. I know AMC & OLTL alone could not save her network, but its a good start. Building programming around those shows would have worked out so much better for her, than all those self-help programs that she’s pumping out on OWN. She really should have stuck to the format of talk shows or news in the morning, then soaps following those programs, then her reality and self-help programs following that…..that way… Read more »
If only she said yes to saving AMC and OLTL. Sure it would have been a big initial cost but she would have gained a very large audience. She also could have made deals with corporations for product placement on the soaps. Bad decision on her part.
Wow, those are some big losses! As a soap fan, I can`t help but feel that Oprah made a huge mistake not bringing on the cancelled soaps onto her network. She would have had a built in audience of millions and would have been proclaimed a heroine for doing it! Maybe it`s not too late to go that route? Wouldn`t that be wonderful?!?!
You should have picked up the soaps Oprah, then you would have gained the support of all those loyal fans.
Seems this cable net was launched without much forethought. Not even mentioning the availability and such on systems, the programming menu is odd. There is nothing that stands out. And not even a larger-than-life personality is enough here. Where are the solid unique off-broadcast reruns (other than those of her “progeny?”? Are there scripted series in development? I wonder if the refusal to pick up daytime dramas may have been a lost opportunity. Has she reached out to the men’s audience? There is no event programming or appointment programming to get me to own OWN. Find what’s missing and fill… Read more »
No forethought and planning seems right. Oprah probably assumed OWN would be a success based on her past successes and because Discovery offered to invest. Employing her friends, without network experience, probably didn’t help either. Oprah turned down producing soaps because she thought scripted series were too expensive to produce, but compared to what OWN has lost, this was a mistake. One daily soap would have brought at least a couple of million viewers to her channel everyday, which she desperately needs. There is no viable programming she can develop and implement fast enough to reverse these monetary losses and… Read more »
Oprah missed a great opportunity to pick up 2.5 million soap fans who were cast aside when ABC cancelled #AMC & OLTL. Karma is a bitch, ain’t it Ms. Winfrey!
Serves her right, she could have saved a soap or two, picked up 2.5 million new viewers and sailed into financial stability with het network, she didnt and now she is paying the price for a stupid decision. Soaps could be her lifeline!
Maybe if Oprah listened to the soap fans by putting One Life To Live and All My Children on OWN, this disaster of a network could be saved…
What kind of programming do I think could have saved own? Certainly none of the garbage she has on now, I think she should have tried to save One of the soaps, One life to live, I dont think all my children was all that good even though I did watch it every day for as long as it was on, Having that rosey show was another mistake, And that inspirational crap forget it. I think she should have stayed on her talk show that was a sure bet for her, I think she let a lot of things go… Read more »
It was hubris to think Oprah could develop and run a network based on the success of her one talk show. It’s interesting Oprah has little of her own money invested in her OWN channel. She’s been playing with the investments of others and apparently has little to lose herself. Oprah has consistently lost money with inexpensive reality programming and she has no money to produce quality fictional drama. OWN is finished. Yes, it was a mistake for Oprah to cancel her daytime talk show, if she wanted a steady source of income, but she couldn’t have taken on developing… Read more »
1love said: That’s not” our ” David, right Ethel? U know, our David, whom we post in Feb, regarding Susan being in the Gloria Estafan video? Nah! Let me know. 1love said to Heather: That statement of David’s was really sad. If that’s the David I know (from on here) he needs to be ashame of himself. I’m in shock and surprised bc my David accesses fair judgement- I dont believe its the same David. No way! Heather replied May 24th, 2012 at 11:39 pm: This David is not the same as the one we’re used to. This David sign… Read more »
Please do not confuse these other statements with mine. I do not make obnoxious comments and spell my name in all lower case letters. Thank you. david
soaps…..might get her some viewers….
Oprah should have retired.
OWN was a loser from day one.
She should gracefully let it go and travel ..
(( nothing will save OWN ))
If Oprah wants viewers, might I suggest (again) OLTL, AMC, GH, GL, OLTL, should I go on, or do you catch my drift? Oprah had a chance to save AMC and OLTL and she said they were money losing dogs. I have loved Oprah for many years, but after her dismissal of soap fans, I’m lost interest in her and her network. And I am only one of millions who feel this way. Oprah, can you hear me now??
too bad… so sad… this is one business I am happy to see fail… sorry not an O fan.
Hey Ms. Winfrey, You should have gone with All My Children and One Life to Live. They had a built in audience and they would have brought the revenue you need. Your message to us was cold. You told us everything has its time. Well…………… I don’t wish failure on anyone, but sometimes karma comes back to bite.
It was a mistake to insult her millions of daytime fans with her youtube video bashing the soap genre. And it is a mistake that she has yet to rectify by apologizing for her harsh comments. Daytime and soap fans have very long memories!!!
im sure there not many giving you any sympathy Oprah. Today @ work we chatted bout your station n its lackluster….IF YOU HAD GRABBED THE SOAPS FROM ABC…YOUD HAVE MORE POSITIVE RATINGS THAN YOU COULD IMAGINE AND THE BEST ADVERTISERS FLOCKING TO YOUR PLACE! ALAS YOU SAID YOU WOULDNT …THERE YA HAVE IT…PROOF IS IN THE “SOAPS YOU USE N THOSE YOU WONT” SOAPS NOT DOPES!!!!!
I like Oprah. I really do. But, this news does make me feel a little better about her “Soaps just don’t make money any more so I can’t put them on my channel” stance. Perhaps she wasn’t the best judge of programing?
Reality shows, talk shows, a day in the life of some damn pampered celebrity. Sorry but, NO THANKS Ms. O!!!.
Oprah, had you saved AMC and OLTL, your channel would have been more successful.
Save the soaps!
WAH WAH WAH!!!! Oh, Oprah. In case you didn’t understand us for the first year of the Save Our Soaps movement, when it comes to what we, the American people want, we are never, ever, EVER, backing down from a fight! Remember that before you go crawling to the nearest network that hasn’t felt the blunt force of our actions.
I tried to watch OWN once or twice and it was really horrid. I am wondering with the numbers ($$) listed above, if the soaps would not have been a better investment. But it seems that ship has sailed, and I don’t wish Oprah any ill will, but I do wonder if she wishes she had handled the soap situation differently.
I think that if Oprah would pick up AMC and OLTL it has a very good chance to turn itself around, Like we told Oprah in the beginning when all this started over a year ago pick up these 2 soaps and you will have an instant fan base of millions but she choose to turn her back on us and what she got was KARMA.
Oprah had a chance to add million of viewers to her new Network if she would have stuck by her daytime viewers and pickup either All My Children or One Life to Live OR Both. Soap fan have long memories and will not forget how Oprah talked that the Soap genre was a time that had passed. I forgot one will never not get that Oprah had a chance to save our beloved shows and she chose not too.
I would rather see Orah is she did the right thing, but I have lost respest for her. Maybe she should try rebroasting of classic soaps and see if that helps. Then she can put her foot in her mouth and take on one of the two cancelled ABC soaps and bring it back into production. I thinkg she would see a dramatic change.
Bring on the web series. That may be the only option left.
You’d think ABC would take a lesson from owns failure.People want good scrpited shows not junk talk reality. cooking a nd lifestyle.I have seen only one network keeping there full line up of soaps and tht is CBS and keeping scripted shows like soaps keep people coming back.You then see there nighttime lineup and are more likely to watch.ABC needs to get rid of there stupis dictator and take a new look at what Own has done.Get the soaps Oprah we’ll come.
I think she should save our soaps ALL MY CHILDERN & ONE LIFE TO LIVE that might help her
One Life to Live & AMC as we as soap fans begged her to save way back when. It is never to late to save at least one of them, Oprah.
Bet the soap opera idea isn’t looking so beneath you now, now is it? Get in touch with Prospect Park and ask to buy the AMC and OLTL rights from them. To answer your questions Michael, it wasn’t a mistake for Oprah to leave after 25 years. I can understand her wanting to move on and evolve through new projects. I don’t even think her programs or their messages were the problem either. Building an audience is tough; we’re a HUGE variable and a big name associated doesn’t equate success. Casting Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in a movie, two… Read more »
Frankly, my thoughts are that any entity or person who ignores the people is doomed to fail. Oprah ignored the please of soap fans to rescue our soaps and chose to go a different way. ABC/Disney cut us off at the pass and is now finding it to be a poor decision. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. I personally don’t want to see eiother of them, what I want is for someone to STAND UP TO BIG MONEY and listen to the PEOPLE who put them where they are, fat wallets and all! Give us our soaps back and see… Read more »
While I do admire Katie for helping save General Hospital, I’d rather see Oprah. At least Oprah did not hacked the timeslot of GH.
the only reason gh was saved is because the revolution tanked – katie had nothing to do with that………….
Hi Ettel: Found you here near, and commenting to one of my other favorites on this site, Heather. I wrote her a hello message yesterday. Been busy, very and out of comission. Logged on yesterday to say Hi to Barbara t, and before signng off last night, ran into the firestorm of the contstant GH vs. OLTL, posted: May 20, 2012 RATINGS: GH Continues to Gain! #1 in Key 18-34 Demo! I took part in the one on here on May 7th, BUT the May 20th debate, I didn’t take part in. It was a find…. on my part, lol.… Read more »
EDIT: People have to have more OBJECTIBILITY, not SUBJECTIBILITY on here.
Can someone say, Karma?
That really bites. I love her Lifeclass shows, especially with Iyanla Vanzant! And Iyanla has a talk show coming on next month, I can’t wait for that! She is so amazing, and I don’t want her to lose it because of this mess!
I’d rather watch Oprah over Katie (there will literally have to be “snow” on every other channel) Also maybe if Oprah would get somew new shows with new subject matter instead of the junk on now more people would be willing to watch. Throw in the soaps and she may have a soild business plan. Why watch a channel if you can get the same stuff else where?
She should have picked up OLTL when she had the chance.
She should get back one life to live and all my children then she would have a lot of fans!
If Oprah is as smart as she seems….bringing OLTL & AMC to her network would help out immensely. Millions of fans would tune in to OWN each & every day. After all, 40 plus years of fans watching these programs is not a bad thing. Oprah could be oue soap fans hero. We all are still wating for someone!!
Michael, where are all the comments? Several friends of mine have submitted comments as well. People on facebook are wondering the same thing.
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