Media Training Question #23 - Will OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) Work?

Oct. 1, 2010 - PRLog -- Since it was announced that Discovery Communications and Oprah Winfrey were going to partner on a new television network, one of the top two questions my media training clients have asked me is: how do I get on the network as a guest?  The other question?  How do I get my own show on OWN?

Christina Norman, CEO of OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), in a recent interview with Fortune Magazine, shared her and Oprah Winfrey’s vision for this new network, which is set to debut on January 1, 2011.  Watch the video to get a feel for what they are doing.  It’s an interesting interview and speaks to their commitment for creating quality television.

Although their entire schedule is not entirely public, it will be soon; and it offers an interesting mix of topics and hosts.  It is very consistent with the themes that made Oprah the uber wealthy media mogul that she has become, recently rated as the sixth most powerful woman in the world, and certainly one of the wealthiest.  But none of that means much if this network doesn’t do well, and with the recent news that Judge Judy, the syndicated jurist who is now the new “Queen of Daytime Talk”, the question has to be asked if Oprah is losing some of her appeal.

I would suggest that there could be nothing further from the truth.

OWN will open for business with 80 million households, a staggering number by any measure, and it is surely a testament to her appeal, although Oprah is only mandated to appear on air only 35 hours per year, it is her vision that Discovery wanted, not just her body, so to speak.

Will OWN work?  It’s an interesting and appropriate question, to be sure.  What they will offer, honestly, is not really offered anywhere else, at least not in this format.  The demo will certainly lean female, and that’s more than OK as the female demo still makes a large percentage of household buying decisions, and Oprah is a master marketer and a true visionary who taught an industry how win in the daytime.  Her success is remarkable, but it’s her draw and credibility that has made her divine in a world that is all too willing to change their minds quicker than most teens change their clothes.  Oprah is smart, savvy, and profound.

OWN will work, in my opinion, for a variety of reasons, but mostly because Oprah has always done something that has gone under the radar; she has always made the assumption that her audience is smarter than we give them credit for.  She respects them through the delivery of content and the willingness to “keep it real”, for whatever that’s worth, and since she makes about $315 million dollars a year, I’d say it’s worth a lot.

For those of you who are paying attention, when OWN was announced they ran a contest for new shows and hosts.  The tsunami of people who responded to this opportunity was mind blowing.  I must have had no fewer than 300 people ask me to help them with the show they knew would make it.  It was a freaking tidal wave of excitement to just think they had a chance to have their own show, and why not  But that is just one of a variety of experiences that have happened sine OWN was announced.  Not having aired one second of television and it’s already a popular topic and a terribly anxious event for people. I will guess that when OWN debuts on New Year’s Day 2011, it will be to a record number of people, especially woman.

No one has any way to know with great certainly if OWN will work, but what we do know is that Oprah attracts talented people.  The Oprah Winfrey Show is not done by her alone.  She is capable of attracting wildly talented people who get what she wants and can bring that to fruition, and that’s not as easy as some might think.  Oprah Winfrey understands the human condition and has this uncanny knack of being at the right place at the right time. She also knows and can create opportunity just by being her.  Not too many people that can do that.

Oprah is not a joke and has never been one.  I think we can very safely assume that OWN will not be one either.  With great dedication and very deliberate determination, the OWN team is putting together programming, ideas, and talent that will get attention, and if we can count on her past, I thinks it’s also safe to assume that this will not be a flash in the pan.  OWN should work and work well.  Very well.

Publicists will love OWN because it gives them a plethora of new shows to book clients on.  Media trainers will love OWN because it will create more people who need to be media trained.  Advertisers will love OWN because it will bring new and exciting demographics to them, the gold standard, of course, and chances are, even if you don’t admit it, you will love OWN because it will be different in content and delivery (yeah guys, I’m talking to you!).

There really is no huge gamble for Discovery Networks, the real winner here.  Oprah has already made household names out of Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and others.  There is no risk when your partner is already one of the best at being one of the best.  

OWN will succeed is big ways and in the process Oprah will do what government hasn’t been able to do for years now, create real, living wage jobs for lots of people.  Maybe this is an example we can all follow…stay tuned!

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Tony has spent the better part of the past two decades in and around the media. As the host of his own nationally syndicated radio programs for 15 years, Tony has interviewed over 25,000 guests and appeared as a guest on over 800 radio and national television shows. He founded of his own public relations firm and he went on to author two books and became a “go to” authority on a myriad of issues from weight loss to self empowerment; from politics to pop culture. Tony’s list of media training clients number over 2000, many of them well known celebrities and authors. He often works under confidentially agreements and enjoys of the challenge of helping people discover their voice.
Tony is respected and well known for his honesty and willingness to do what it takes to get to a core message. He works tirelessly with his clients and advocates for his clients in finding the most passionate and profound tenets of their message and then giving them the tools to deliver that message.