Oprah Winfrey Network

The Oprah Winfrey Network seems to have everything needed to succeed: some of the best creative minds in the business, strong financial backing, a loyal audience and enthusiastic advertisers eager to buy commercial time. But more than 20 months after the announcement that Winfrey was teaming with Discovery Communications Inc. to create a cable channel that celebrates her ethos, "Living your best life," not much has happened -- except for a revolving door of executives. Three top programmers abruptly left the Los Angeles-based network in recent months, and development spending has been cut. OWN was supposed to have launched by now, but its debut has been pushed back to mid-2010.

Oprah Winfrey's cable network is in trouble, entertainment business reporter Joe Flint says in this video. Created 15 months ago in partnership with cable television giant Discovery Communications, the Oprah Winfrey Network was expected to get off to a good start by tapping the 6 million fans who were watching Winfrey's talk show in syndication.  Instead, OWN is averaging just 259,000 viewers in prime time, according to Nielsen. Winfrey said on "CBS This Morning" that the channel has been much harder to get off the ground than she expected, reporter Meg James writes today on our sister blog, Company Town.

More than 20 years after he last played pro basketball, former Lakers star Magic Johnson is ready for a whole new game: running his own TV network. The Hall of Famer, who has become a successful business mogul, is preparing to launch Aspire, a 24-hour channel with a focus on what Johnson called positive, uplifting images of African Americans. The basic cable outlet will join other channels targeting black viewers, such as BET and TV One, and will offer opportunities for blacks who have struggled to find work in mainstream Hollywood.

"A queen is not afraid to fail," Oprah Winfrey once said. "Failure is another steppingstone to greatness. " Now the television queen may have a chance to prove the adage. Her Los Angeles-based Oprah Winfrey Network has been hobbled by missteps, ego clashes, a revolving door in the executive suite and, most important, low ratings. OWN's stumbles suggest, at the least, that even in celebrity-obsessed America, fame alone doesn't guarantee success. PHOTOS: 25 great "Oprah" moments The network was born 15 months ago with high hopes of becoming the television equivalent of Winfrey's O magazine.

It happened in its OWN time. After three years of planning, delays and management misfires, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network finally arrives Jan. 1, the biggest launch of a cable channel in more than a decade. Wall Street and the television industry are eager to see whether the celebrity who can unleash consumer trends can leverage the success of her 25-year run in daytime television into a 24-hour cable channel. The new channel is a mix of programming that encourages people to "live their best lives" with the empowerment message that is the Oprah Winfrey brand.

Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications Inc. four months ago sought to lower expectations for the launch of their high-profile joint venture — OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network — stressing it would take time for the new cable channel to find an audience. But the fledgling channel's tepid start failed to match even their most modest assumptions. On Friday, the channel's chief executive, Christina Norman, was ousted, and Discovery's No. 2 executive, Peter Liguori, took over the Los Angeles-based channel on an interim basis.

Looks like Oprah Winfrey has had one of her trademark "aha!" moments. Winfrey and Discovery Communications Inc., partners in the Oprah Winfrey Network, announced cutbacks and an executive restructuring at the struggling cable channel. The moves follow OWN's decision Friday to cancel its high-profile Rosie O'Donnell talk show and will result in 30 staffers being let go and executives from Discovery Communications being brought in to oversee key operations. The changes come as OWN continues to struggle to find its voice.

One of the first executives hired at OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is not going to live her best life with Winfrey after all. The network announced that Robin Schwartz, president of OWN, resigned Monday. Schwartz joined OWN in July as programming chief after wowing the media maven/taste-maker during her job interview. Schwartz, the former president of Regency Television, helped open the channel's offices in Los Angeles and set up its program development process.

The highly anticipated but delayed OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network will soon have a chief creative executive. Lisa Erspamer, who will join the Los Angeles operation in January, has something that executives who preceded her lacked: experience working directly for the demanding Winfrey. Erspamer is co-executive producer of Winfrey's daytime talk show, a position she has held for three years. OWN said Wednesday that Erspamer would work with other executives to "create, shape and drive programming and ensure Oprah's unique editorial voice across all platforms."

Strategically saving its two biggest headliner shows to fill the silence following the everything-but-fireworks finale of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) now debuts in quick succession "Finding Sarah" and "Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals. " Together, they neatly explain the dichotomy of Oprah-love and Oprah-bashing. "Finding Sarah," which premieres on Sunday night, showcases the very worst of the Winfrey movement. Following Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, down the yellow brick road of self-discovery with Oprah-approved consultants — Dr. Phil McGraw as the Scarecrow and Suze Orman, the Tin Man — creates an Emperor's-new-clothes moment reminiscent of the episode in which Oprah built Kirstie Alley a gourmet kitchen.

Looks like Oprah Winfrey has had one of her trademark "aha!" moments. Winfrey and Discovery Communications Inc., partners in the Oprah Winfrey Network, announced cutbacks and an executive restructuring at the struggling cable channel. The moves follow OWN's decision Friday to cancel its high-profile Rosie O'Donnell talk show and will result in 30 staffers being let go and executives from Discovery Communications being brought in to oversee key operations. The changes come as OWN continues to struggle to find its voice.

More than 20 years after he last played pro basketball, former Lakers star Magic Johnson is ready for a whole new game: running his own TV network. The Hall of Famer, who has become a successful business mogul, is preparing to launch Aspire, a 24-hour channel with a focus on what Johnson called positive, uplifting images of African Americans. The basic cable outlet will join other channels targeting black viewers, such as BET and TV One, and will offer opportunities for blacks who have struggled to find work in mainstream Hollywood.

Dear Oprah Winfrey: It's been a month and a half since you announced that you would be forfeiting the much-deserved vacation you planned to take after the final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to devote yourself to the struggling Oprah Winfrey Network. Now, I realize that is not a lot of time, but I've seen the description of the new fall lineup, and I'm a little concerned. The new "Rosie O'Donnell Show" could be terrific, or not, as Rosie tends to be, but the three other new shows — a reality show about a St. Louis family-owned soul food restaurant ("Welcome to Sweetie Pie's")

Oprah Winfrey has acknowledged that launching her own cable channel has been more difficult than she expected. But now that her syndicated talk show has ended after 25 years, Winfrey said she plans to devote herself to overhauling OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, which has struggled to find an audience. That means Winfrey will be spending more time in Los Angeles, the headquarters of the channel, which is a joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. "The vacation that I thought that I was going to have is over," Winfrey said Thursday before a crowd of about 1,000 people attending the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn.

Strategically saving its two biggest headliner shows to fill the silence following the everything-but-fireworks finale of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) now debuts in quick succession "Finding Sarah" and "Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals. " Together, they neatly explain the dichotomy of Oprah-love and Oprah-bashing. "Finding Sarah," which premieres on Sunday night, showcases the very worst of the Winfrey movement. Following Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, down the yellow brick road of self-discovery with Oprah-approved consultants — Dr. Phil McGraw as the Scarecrow and Suze Orman, the Tin Man — creates an Emperor's-new-clothes moment reminiscent of the episode in which Oprah built Kirstie Alley a gourmet kitchen.

Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications Inc. four months ago sought to lower expectations for the launch of their high-profile joint venture — OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network — stressing it would take time for the new cable channel to find an audience. But the fledgling channel's tepid start failed to match even their most modest assumptions. On Friday, the channel's chief executive, Christina Norman, was ousted, and Discovery's No. 2 executive, Peter Liguori, took over the Los Angeles-based channel on an interim basis.

Dear Oprah Winfrey: It's been a month and a half since you announced that you would be forfeiting the much-deserved vacation you planned to take after the final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to devote yourself to the struggling Oprah Winfrey Network. Now, I realize that is not a lot of time, but I've seen the description of the new fall lineup, and I'm a little concerned. The new "Rosie O'Donnell Show" could be terrific, or not, as Rosie tends to be, but the three other new shows — a reality show about a St. Louis family-owned soul food restaurant ("Welcome to Sweetie Pie's")

Music to fund Japan aid Contemporary and classic hits from John Lennon, Justin Bieber, Bob Dylan, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Josh Groban and 30 other acts have been gathered on "Songs for Japan," a compilation that will generate funds for the Japanese Red Cross Society's disaster relief efforts. Other artists represented include Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Keith Urban, Rihanna, Lady Antebellum, Eminem, Elton John and Shakira. All artists, publishers and record companies have waived their royalties and other proceeds so that 100% of money generated from sales will go to the charity.

The romance between Britain's Prince William and fiancée Kate Middleton is getting the TV movie treatment. Lifetime said it planned to air "William & Kate" before the royal nuptials in London on April 29, although it doesn't start shooting for another two weeks and is lacking a lead actress. William, 28, second in line to the British throne, will be played by little-known New Zealand actor Nico Evers-Swindell, whose credits include small parts in the TV shows "Law & Order" and "NCIS: Los Angeles.