‘Oprah Winfrey Show' Jumping to OWN: Report
Harpo, OWN, CBS Television Distribution Maintain Decision Not Yet Made
Paige Albiniak (Broadcasting & Cable) -- Multichannel News, 11/5/2009 2:51:00 PM
CBS Television Distribution's The Oprah Winfrey Show will depart broadcast syndication, when the show's contract expires in 2011, and move to Winfrey's new cable network, according to a report published by Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke. That report is in line with what Discovery chief David Zaslav had said nearly one year ago to the day.On Thursday afternoon executives tied to the show were issuing a round of statements saying nothing has yet to be finalized.
OWN and Harpo, Winfrey's production company, both said that Winfrey would make an announcement before the end of the year, as previously stated. "She has not made a decision yet," said a Harpo spokesman.
OWN, a joint venture with Discovery Communications, is slated to bow in fall 2010.
Executives at CTD, which distributes the show, said they have no knowledge of any decision. "Nothing has changed. The decision is Oprah's to make. As we have stated repeatedly, we love Oprah and if she wants to continue her show then we want to continue to be in business with her," says a CTD spokesman.
Talkback
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once they see ratings for OWN the show will be back in syndication in a heartbeat. this is just one of those campaign promises to drive interest in the channel when they need positive press. like most campaign commitments, they'll backpedal on it in about 12 months.
Christie - 11/6/2009 10:07:29 AM EST
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