Oprah Winfrey OWN Was a MISTAKE

Oprah Winfrey rues the day she ever launched the Oprah Winfrey Network -- claiming the entire operation was one giant mistake ... doomed from the get go.

The Big O appeared today on "CBS This Morning," confessing she might not have created OWN if she could do it all over again -- "The idea of creating a network was something that I wanted to do. Had I known that it was this difficult, I might have done something else."

She added, "If I knew then what I know now, I might have made different choices. If I were writing a book about it, I could call the book '101 Mistakes.'"

As we previously reported, OWN has been struggling BAD -- chopping a large chunk of network employees last month ... right after it was forced to cancel Rosie O'Donnell's show.

That's what she gets for canceling "Oprah". Now what she gonna do? True she's a billionaire but you can't do just about anything and think it's always gonna succeed.

[Edited 4/2/12 16:11pm]

banks said

As we previously reported, OWN has been struggling, BAD -- chopping a large chunk of network employees last month ... right after it was forced to cancel Rosie O'Donnell's show.

now how is my name gettin all mixed up in HER shit???

KingBAD said:

banks said

As we previously reported, OWN has been struggling, BAD -- chopping a large chunk of network employees last month ... right after it was forced to cancel Rosie O'Donnell's show.

now how is my name gettin all mixed up in HER shit???

The biggest mistake she made was not doing at least one more season of her show on the OWN network so that she could bring in viewers

NDRU said:

The biggest mistake she made was not doing at least one more season of her show on the OWN network so that she could bring in viewers

Right. I think when people heard about OWN that she would just move her show there but she put some shit on it no one wants to see.

In Mich. it is extra to get her on the cable network which is an addition $40+ dollars per month and it just ain't worth it. I think she got greedy.

mzsadii said:

In Mich. it is extra to get her on the cable network which is an addition $40+ dollars per month and it just ain't worth it. I think she got greedy.

Understatement if I ever have to call it...

oprah should sell OWN to prince. he'll could rename it NOW and have tons of cool music stuff

NDRU said:

The biggest mistake she made was not doing at least one more season of her show on the OWN network so that she could bring in viewers

That's what I thought she would do. I mean the Oprah show was her flagship show.

Her mistake was that her network should have been available to anyone with a TV antenna, not just those with a cable box. The main channels in the nation should be NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CW, PBS, ION, and OWN. That would have been too awesome, and she wouldn't be dealing with the lack of public interest she's facing now.

I don't see where she said the network was "a MISTAKE."

I saw that she said she didn't know it would be so difficult, and that she made "101 mistakes" in launching the network.

Sounds like she's being honest and humble about how complicated and hard it was/is. But that doesn't make as interesting a title, I guess.

PunkMistress said:

I don't see where she said the network was "a MISTAKE."

I saw that she said she didn't know it would be so difficult, and that she made "101 mistakes" in launching the network.

Sounds like she's being honest and humble about how complicated and hard it was/is. But that doesn't make as interesting a title, I guess.

you're an Oprahlogist

NDRU said:

The biggest mistake she made was not doing at least one more season of her show on the OWN network so that she could bring in viewers

THAT^ the second biggest mistake.

The real biggest mistake was Oprah not putting male-driven shows on OWN. Excuse me, but Lifetime already exist for mostly female viewers, so make OWN into Lifetime V2.0 is not going to cut it at all.

If you look at the history of network television in America, all networks have terrible growing pains and struggle to find their footing like crazy in the first 3 years. Realistically, OWN is not going to become a viable, profitable venture until about year 5. I'm sure Oprah knows all this, but like she's admitted, she likely didn't know just how difficult those first three years of growing pains would be.

She should have just kept her talk show,which was still popular.Operating an entire network is risky business,even for someone with her status and credentials.

SoulAlive said:

She should have just kept her talk show,which was still popular.Operating an entire network is risky business,even for someone with her status and credentials.

I'm thinking it's okay that she ventured out into this . Unfortunately she's just going to have to buckle down and make the best of it for those first nightmare 5 years just like everyone else who's every started a network. You know how the old adage goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. She in it now, so might as well be in it to win it, growth pains and all.

a lill bit of failure doesnt hurt anyone

TonyVanDam said:

NDRU said:

The biggest mistake she made was not doing at least one more season of her show on the OWN network so that she could bring in viewers

THAT^ the second biggest mistake.

The real biggest mistake was Oprah not putting male-driven shows on OWN. Excuse me, but Lifetime already exist for mostly female viewers, so make OWN into Lifetime V2.0 is not going to cut it at all.

BUT OH NO, Mr. VanDam - LIFETIME television does not appeal to all women in any way shape or form, and is for me more of a tv re-run or soap operatic movie channel that more than anything.

When I watch OWN, it's cute that they've had a couple of reality shows to catch my attention when I'm in a fluffy mood (Sweetie Pies is lovely, and Shania Twain's journey to healing as a divorcee was all Native American spiritual and whatnot), but I'm primarily interested in watching spiritual principle shows like "Life Class" and "Master Class", or Lisa Ling's "Our America" which I find particularly thought provoking as a hard news documenatry series. Thought provoking is not exactly the terminology I would apply to Lifetime Tv, although I did enjoy their movies like "A Boyfriend for Christmas", their 298 Danielle Steele movies, and the 10 years they ran "the Golden Girls" in syndication. . The demographic, while female, is entirely different from OWN.

Lifetime is where we go to watch thrillers about marital murder or romances where ya find a boyfriend under the Christmas tree after a divorce. OWN is where we go to find out how to balance checkbooks, build businesses, learn the art of forgiveness, start non-profits do self-mammograms, and join the fight stop child sex trafficking.

You want guy shows then go watch Spike or Dmax....and while you're at it, notice even you guys don't just have one network aimed at being Testosterone tv !

PunkMistress said:

Timmy84 said:

NDRU said:

The biggest mistake she made was not doing at least one more season of her show on the OWN network so that she could bring in viewers

Right. I think when people heard about OWN that she would just move her show there but she put some shit on it no one wants to see.

Just like The Kid. She should have hired Billy Sparks as a consultant.

Ottensen said:

TonyVanDam said:

THAT^ the second biggest mistake.

The real biggest mistake was Oprah not putting male-driven shows on OWN. Excuse me, but Lifetime already exist for mostly female viewers, so make OWN into Lifetime V2.0 is not going to cut it at all.

BUT OH NO, Mr. VanDam - LIFETIME television does not appeal to all women in any way shape or form, and is for me more of a tv re-run or soap operatic movie channel that more than anything.

When I watch OWN, it's cute that they've had a couple of reality shows to catch my attention when I'm in a fluffy mood (Sweetie Pies is lovely, and Shania Twain's journey to healing as a divorcee was all Native American spiritual and whatnot), but I'm primarily interested in watching spiritual principle shows like "Life Class" and "Master Class", or Lisa Ling's "Our America" which I find particularly thought provoking as a hard news documenatry series. Thought provoking is not exactly the terminology I would apply to Lifetime Tv, although I did enjoy their movies like "A Boyfriend for Christmas", their 298 Danielle Steele movies, and the 10 years they ran "the Golden Girls" in syndication. . The demographic, while female, is entirely different from OWN.

Lifetime is where we go to watch thrillers about marital murder or romances where ya find a boyfriend under the Christmas tree after a divorce. OWN is where we go to find out how to balance checkbooks, build businesses, learn the art of forgiveness, start non-profits do self-mammograms, and join the fight stop child sex trafficking.

You want guy shows then go watch Spike or Dmax....and while you're at it, notice even you guys don't just have one network aimed at being Testosterone tv !

Ha Spike TV's the shit...

Genesia said:

Timmy84 said:

Right. I think when people heard about OWN that she would just move her show there but she put some shit on it no one wants to see.

Just like The Kid. She should have hired Billy Sparks as a consultant.

Ottensen said:

TonyVanDam said:

THAT^ the second biggest mistake.

The real biggest mistake was Oprah not putting male-driven shows on OWN. Excuse me, but Lifetime already exist for mostly female viewers, so make OWN into Lifetime V2.0 is not going to cut it at all.

BUT OH NO, Mr. VanDam - LIFETIME television does not appeal to all women in any way shape or form, and is for me more of a tv re-run or soap operatic movie channel that more than anything.

When I watch OWN, it's cute that they've had a couple of reality shows to catch my attention when I'm in a fluffy mood (Sweetie Pies is lovely, and Shania Twain's journey to healing as a divorcee was all Native American spiritual and whatnot), but I'm primarily interested in watching spiritual principle shows like "Life Class" and "Master Class", or Lisa Ling's "Our America" which I find particularly thought provoking as a hard news documenatry series. Thought provoking is not exactly the terminology I would apply to Lifetime Tv, although I did enjoy their movies like "A Boyfriend for Christmas", their 298 Danielle Steele movies, and the 10 years they ran "the Golden Girls" in syndication. . The demographic, while female, is entirely different from OWN.

Lifetime is where we go to watch thrillers about marital murder or romances where ya find a boyfriend under the Christmas tree after a divorce. OWN is where we go to find out how to balance checkbooks, build businesses, learn the art of forgiveness, start non-profits do self-mammograms, and join the fight stop child sex trafficking.

You want guy shows then go watch Spike or Dmax....and while you're at it, notice even you guys don't just have one network aimed at being Testosterone tv !

I stand by my words. And I like The Golden Girls as well.

TonyVanDam said:

Ottensen said:

BUT OH NO, Mr. VanDam - LIFETIME television does not appeal to all women in any way shape or form, and is for me more of a tv re-run or soap operatic movie channel that more than anything.

When I watch OWN, it's cute that they've had a couple of reality shows to catch my attention when I'm in a fluffy mood (Sweetie Pies is lovely, and Shania Twain's journey to healing as a divorcee was all Native American spiritual and whatnot), but I'm primarily interested in watching spiritual principle shows like "Life Class" and "Master Class", or Lisa Ling's "Our America" which I find particularly thought provoking as a hard news documenatry series. Thought provoking is not exactly the terminology I would apply to Lifetime Tv, although I did enjoy their movies like "A Boyfriend for Christmas", their 298 Danielle Steele movies, and the 10 years they ran "the Golden Girls" in syndication. . The demographic, while female, is entirely different from OWN.

Lifetime is where we go to watch thrillers about marital murder or romances where ya find a boyfriend under the Christmas tree after a divorce. OWN is where we go to find out how to balance checkbooks, build businesses, learn the art of forgiveness, start non-profits do self-mammograms, and join the fight stop child sex trafficking.

You want guy shows then go watch Spike or Dmax....and while you're at it, notice even you guys don't just have one network aimed at being Testosterone tv !

I stand by my words. And I like The Golden Girls as well.

I agree with you. And I like THE GOLDEN GIRLS as well.

i think this station has the potential 2 grow bring in some real tv shows not reality shows,bring back some old shows of the past like the facts of like 2012 with like kim fields and nately running it for misses garret. bring back like girlfriends with all the original cast,bring some good cooking shows and shows of health beauty.just think of old school with a new age twist oprah and u can revive it girl.

I vlogged about her li'l mistake about a month or two ago. I really gave her network a chance, opting to watch the launch as it happened the first day. It looked like it had hope until she started adding all that filler crap from other networks. It takes a lot to bring a network together, and she really did make a mistake. I love me some O, but she basically threw herself in the fire wearing a gasoline thong with this one. I think there's like...three shows that are worth it. LifeClass, Sweetie Pie's, Next Chapter. There's another show just like Next Chapter that's also pretty good-ish. I even liked Rosie's show for a hot second.

I think she tried to do too much and it backfired. I'd watch if not for the marathons of the murder mystery shows and the campy lady time movies from the late 80s/early 90s. That's what Lifetime is for, and I have that channel blocked from my lineup.

It was a mistake because she wanted to launch it right away. I think she needed more time. Had she let it marinate a little longer, the quality would have been much better. I'm tired of turning and seeing Dr. freakin' Phil. Her mistake was not realizing the true difficulty. That's all. It has great potential to change if she gauges what the people really want.

[Edited 4/3/12 18:28pm]

LifeClass is probably the best new show Ive seen in a loooong time. It is MUST SEE TV!

Give OWN some time and it will be an awesome network. its only been a few months.

NDRU said:

The biggest mistake she made was not doing at least one more season of her show on the OWN network so that she could bring in viewers

It wouldn't have made a difference because a lot of people didn't have the channel period. Not every cable service was going to run the network.

[Edited 4/3/12 18:43pm]

XxAxX said:

oprah should sell OWN to prince. he'll could rename it NOW and have tons of cool music stuff

Speaking of OWN Network. What happen to Prince suppose video network????