Oprah Winfrey Network

Oprah Winfrey Network
Broadcast areaUnited States
HeadquartersBurbank, California, U.S.
Programming
Picture formatHDTV 1080i
(downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the standard definiton feeds)
Ownership
OwnerWarner Bros. Discovery (95%)
Harpo Productions (5%)
Key people
  • Oprah Winfrey (CEO)
  • Tina Perry (president)
  • Neal Kirsch (COO and CFO)
Sister channels
History
LaunchedJanuary 1, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-01-01)
ReplacedDiscovery Health Channel
Links
Websitehttp://www.oprah.com/own
Availability
Streaming media
Affiliated Streaming Service
PhiloInternet Protocol television (IPTV)
YouTube TVIPTV
Hulu + Live TVIPTV
DirecTV StreamIPTV

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel. OWN (also known as the “OWN Network”) is a joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios, conceptualized largely by popular talk show host, Oprah Winfrey—the name of Harpo Studios is Winfrey’s first name, spelled backwards.[1]

The network is spearheaded by television personality (and namesake) Oprah Winfrey and features entertainment, self-help and lifestyle specials aimed at not only African American audiences but female viewers, in general. As well as featuring various programs surrounding celebrities, self-awareness, therapy, and spirituality, the OWN network also airs reruns of talk show programming from the Harpo Studios library, such as archived episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986-2011).

Initially a 50/50 joint venture, Discovery acquired a larger stake in the network in 2017 and again in December 2020, when Discovery increased its ownership in OWN from 73% to 95%. Harpo remains a "significant" minority stakeholder, and Winfrey is contracted with the channel through (at least) 2025.

As of February 2015, OWN is available to approximately 81.9 million pay television households (70.3% of households with television) in the United States.[2]

  1. ^ "People Are Convinced That Oprah Owns the Entire Discovery Network". Distractify. June 11, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Seidman, Robert (February 22, 2015). "List of how many homes each cable network is in as of February 2015". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.