OWN - Oprah Winfrey Network

OWN - Oprah Winfrey Network

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), named after talk-show presenter Oprah Winfrey, is an American specialty channel produced by Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications. It debuted on January 1, 2011, in approximately 80 million homes, replacing the former Discovery Health Channel (DHC).

In late 2012, Tyler Perry partnered with OWN to provide it with scripted television programming. One of Perry's series The Haves and the Have Nots has consistently posted very successful ratings and has set a preeminent record on OWN, providing the network with its highest ratings to date. A March 11, 2014 episode of the series brought in 3.6 million viewers, surpassing the 3.5 million that tuned in for an Oprah’s Next Chapter episode which was the network's previous highest rated viewing.

As of August 2013, OWN is available to approximately 83,261,000 pay television households (72.91% of households with television) in the United States.

OWN broadcasts in both standard-definition resolution (480i) and high-definition resolution (1080i). All markets of DirecTV, AT&T Uverse, Dish Network, Cablevision and Bright House Networks carry the channel in HD. Charter Communications, Cox and Time Warner Cable carry the HD feed of the channel only in some markets. Verizon FiOS and Comcast have yet to carry the channel in HD.

As of March 2014, the network's programming primarily consists of marathons, with eight-hour daytime blocks airing multiple episodes of the same series, usually a different show each day. The primetime programming varies and is repeated in late night, followed by an overnight movie and a morning block of talk shows including Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, and The Nate Berkus Show. The programming includes a mix of original programs, specials, documentaries, and acquired movies. The channel does not air infomercials.

In Canada, the former Canadian version of Discovery Health, owned by Shaw Media, did not become a Canadian version of OWN, instead shifting to a reality-based format known as Twist TV. Instead, Corus Entertainment agreed to launch a Canadian version of OWN in early 2011—its existing channel Viva was re-launched as OWN on March 1, 2011. During January and February 2011, selected OWN programming aired on both Viva and the co-owned W Network. Both Shaw Media and Corus share common ownership interests from the J.R. Shaw family, but are considered separate companies. Winfrey revealed to The New York Times that she is in final negotiations to release the channel in Brazil and Argentina.

An OWN Programming Block that features popular series such as Oprah's Next Chapter, Oprah's Lifeclass and Super Soul Sunday began airing on TLC UK in April 2013. The same programming block began airing Discovery Home & Health in Australia on August 4, 2013. It was announced on September 20, 2013, that the OWN Programming Block would begin airing in South Africa on DStv beginning October 17, 2013. OWN Programming Block also debuted in Poland and Russia in August and September; it also debut on October 28, 2013, in Balkans/Romania/Bulgaria.  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia