Oprah Winfrey counts on Fergie to rescue flagging channel
A new TV station set up by American chat show queen Oprah Winfrey has seen its ratings plummet to a mere 135,000 at any one time – despite being available to 70m homes.
Dubbed the OWN channel the station has almost lived up to its name with its lack of viewers but Winfrey is sticking by her venture, insisting that greater personal involvement later in the year will see those figures rebound.
Launched in conjunction with Discovery on New Year’s Day in a joint venture valued at £147m the channel initially performed well, drawing in 1.2m for its inaugural broadcast.
Performance has since slipped however as the channel plays host to a slew of repeats but Winfrey is promising to provide 600 hours of original programming, including a reality TV series hosted by the Duchess of York, to reverse the trend.
Winfrey said: "I think we're going to have some perhaps rocky times with the channel, keeping people there and keeping people motivated to keep watching, keeping them engaged."
The Oprah Winfrey Show has run for 25 years and attracts a daily audience of 7m viewers.