Friday, January 18, 2013

Oprah scores big from exclusive interview with Lance Armstrong

Oprah scores big from exclusive interview with Lance Armstrong


Oprah Winfrey, 58, dominated as the queen US daytime television from 1986 through 2011.

Since the last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the numerical eye catchy 1-11-11 launch of OWN, it's been an uphill battle for the pop culture icon with less than stellar ratings.

Whereas the final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show pulled in a staggering 16.4 million viewers, with an average of 6 million viewers a day. OWN backed by cable powerhouse Discovery Channel has attracted fewer than 300000 viewers.

OWN is losing millions according to a newly released report from Business Week magazine. According to the publication, OWN and its partner, Discovery, have both taken huge hits.

Discovery, who’s in partnership with the media mogul, helped launch the network and has been underwriting its costs with nearly $600 million invested in it since 2008. OWN’s estimated to have lost $330,000.

Her interview with Lance Armstrong, aired on both OWN and the Oprah.com website, could be a turning point.

"This is a huge 'get' for Oprah" given how OWN is not yet part of the [media] mainstream," celebrity biographer and author of Oprah: A Biography Kitty Kelley said.

"This is enormous for OWN in that it's probably going to be first time ever that many people have tuned into the channel," said Larry Gerbrandt of Media Valuation Partners.

For the second time in 2013, Winfrey has the interview everyone wants. Last time it was David Letterman. This time it’s Lance Armstrong.

That’s millions of viewers clicking through. Last March, the network scored its biggest audience to date for Winfrey’s interview with Whitney Houston’s daughter following the singer’s death.
The Armstrong broadcast could well exceed the 3.5 million viewers for that show.

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