Oprah Will Fit Fine on Cable

Is Oprah Winfrey going to become the first lady of cable?
This week reports surfaced that Winfrey will be moving her long-runnning and top-rated syndicated talk show to cable. Specifically it would be moving to the new cable channel she owns with Discovery Communications.
Discovery CEO David Zaslav has dropped hints in the past that “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will be part of the cable channel’s lineup, but Winfrey and the broadcasters she currently does business with have said no decision has been made—yet.
Now some personnel shifts have promoted new reports that Oprah’s leaving the airwaves in—and Chicago— in 2011 to do her thing in Los Angeles on the Oprah Winfrey Network. If there were once riches to be made in syndication–and Oprah’s made billions–now the money’s in cable.
Since Winfrey’s deal with Discovery was announced, the launch of her own network has been anything but smooth. The channel has run through a number of senior executives and its unofficial launch date has been pushed back several times.
If a decision about the future of her show will force Winfrey to concentrate her attention on the channel and figuring out what type of programming should be on it, that would be a good thing for Discovery, her partner.
And while her broadcast ratings are falling, Winfrey is no doubt a powerful draw to viewers, most of whom would find her show, whether it’s on Channel 7 or Channel 207.
Indeed, Winfrey moving to cable would just be the latest move of signature broadcast programming to cable.
Cable has become the home to most of the important news and sports people want to see. Most hit movies air on cable before broadcast. Kids know their favorite shows are on cable. The top scripted dramas are on cable—just ask the Emmy awards about “Mad Men.”
Yes. I think Oprah will feel right at home on cable.