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Wow, there's a really hot women's TV rivalry happening. (I'm not going to use the sexist term 'catfight'. I reserve that for bitchy male moguls who squabble...) First there were WE, Lifetime and Oxygen. Then the CW became estrogen-centric. Now Oprah's joint venture with Discovery for her own cable network to debut in 2009 in 70 million homes is creating even more competition. I'm told Mario Grasso, the former WB network exec who was hired by Suzanne Daniels to be SVP of series development at Lifetime, would report to OWN's recently hired president Robin Schwartz who used to be head of Regency Television. Last week I reported first that JoAnn Alfano was named Lifetime's new EVP. I'm loving all these coming and goings... especially if it raises the female execs' pay.
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While I root for female executives in the testosterone heavy / common sense light world of Hollywood business, and see nothing wrong with women-centric TV programming… I just don’t think a new Oprah Winfrey channel will cut it.
Her ratings are slipping, her positive ratings amongst her main demographics are going down, the book club isn’t the taste-maker it used to be, and people have the impression that with the show, the spin-offs, the magazine with her on the cover every issue (until recently), one cable channel, and another one on the way, that she’s over-extended her brand.
Raise that bar!
Wow, Nikki, when it’s men they’re all “failing their way up.” When it’s women, you’re “loving this.” Maria Grasso? Really? If any jr. execs are watching, yes, doing NOTHING but getting in the way of people who are working is the best way to fail upward.
Oprah’s not doing well? According to who, exactly? ALL TV ratings are down, not just Oprah. And any book she selects for her book club (or just features on her show) becomes a #1 NYT bestseller. Did you not see how she’s considered the reason Obama got 1 million votes in the primary?
If anyone can have their own successful channel, it’s Oprah Winfrey. Now, maybe no one can, but let’s face it, it will be entirely dependent on the programming. Oprah is the most powerful brand out there- she puts all of her Hollywood guests to shame.
If anyone can make the channel work it’ll be Robin Schwartz, she is an excellent creative executive.
Oh joy, this is all we need another female oriented network. *gag* don’t we have enough?
The CW really they are wannabe’s they want to be the next Disney Channel with the shows they air. LOL With the exception of Thursday Night.
I would rather watch Spike, or Sci-Fi than another crappy woman’s channel.
If this is true, then Oprah is a lucky woman and the folks at Lifetime are fools. I had the pleasure of working with Maria several years ago and she is a stand up gal with good instincts and a great work ethic.
Robin Schwartz is an excellent creative executive??? Are you insane Mal Bird? What did she do for New Regency? How many shows did they get on the air in the last 3 years? Ouch. All that money from Mr. Milchan in TV, and nothing, zilch, nada. It was so bad Mr. Milchan shut down the TV department. Failing upwards is once again apparent. Check out CAMP BRUCKHEIMER, they know how to make TV and movies…..
Oprah, if you want this to work on a grand scale hire someone from there. Not Robin Schwartz……
Yup, cable’s a strange business. You can have absolutely no viewers, but collect a buck per subscriber from cable companies who put your network on. That’s one of the reasons cable bills are so high. If they allowed ala cart pricing, where you only pay for the channels you watched, about 75% of these supposed “networks” would disappear.
I hope Oprah’s network has more Oprah than her radio station. I hear her involvement is she calls in for a half hour each week.
Oprah should be more worried about viewer backlasah on her afternoon talk show. Last week the Drudge Report found a story about fractional divisions in her company over Gov Sarah Palin. Drudge Report uncovered and Oprah tried to refute the story that Drudge ran. But by the end of Friday last week ABCNEWS.Com and other news outlets ran with it. But what happened her website was getting flooded with requests. Now her pruducer donated Money to the Obama campaign. At the sametime a group of Republican women who have been long time viewers of the show. It was the members who pushed the boycott and this included subscription to her magazine. Publicly Oprah tried to distance herself from the Drudge Story but it’s too little too late.
Lifetime is lucky to have Grasso gone. Actors and writers know she is not their friend. Her behavior towards them is pretty shocking. Now I can finally get my clients to consider working there.
The only show I watch on any of those girlie channels is Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. The rest of their programming is absolutely pathetic. Does those channels actually get ratings? At least Lifetime – much as people love to bash their movies – actually attract quality actresses these days. Same can’t be said of Oxygen. And I don’t expect a thing from Oprah’s latest network (remember, Oxygen was her first before she got bored and left the others to handle it).
OK, there’s Lifetime, Oxygen, WE, CW, most of ABC’s schedule, TLC (female oriented), Home and Garden, and now the OWN network. I count 8 networks competing for the same demographic. In a recession. With a terrible ad market.
Hmmm ….
The only thing worth watching on Lifetime are reruns of Frasier and Will & Grace. My wife always told me to watch Will & Grace when it aired on NBC, now I know why. Funny stuff……