The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)

While many may have been aware that Oprah Winfrey started her own network, not everyone knows that she no longer does her talk show. The long-running and well-liked talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” aired for 25 seasons. It first aired in 1986 and concluded in 2011.

Now, Winfrey has other things to put her time and attention on. The Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN, is now showing two episodes of the network’s popular series “Oprah’s Next Chapter” per week. Originally, there was only one show per week, but the network needed to boost ratings, and “Oprah’s Next Chapter” gives fans exactly what they want to see.

This next show will cover Winfrey’s trip to Haiti with Sean Penn. “Oprah’s Next Chapter” currently boasts 924,000 viewers. It covers detailed interviews with well-known faces, such as Steven Tyler, former singer for the band Aerosmith and current “American Idol” judge. Oprah Winfrey has also taken the show to Joel Osteen, a popular televangelist.

The show first aired in January 2011. Since it first began, OWN has shown reality-based shows of behind the scenes with Winfrey on The Oprah Winfrey Show. It has been stated that Winfrey could not commit 100 percent to the network when it first began, due to the remaining eight month commitment she still carried for her original show.

The low ratings have come as a bit of a surprise for Winfrey’s partner, the Discovery Channel. With more than $250 million invested in OWN, and the concurrent cancellation of Discovery Health, Discovery representatives have voiced surprise at the low ratings and weak start.

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)