Oprah Winfrey sells majority of OWN stake for $35 million to Discovery

Oprah’s success hasn’t followed her to OWN. According to Forbes and Bloomberg the deal increases Discovery’s stake in OWN to 95%, but Winfrey will hold on to her CEO and chief creative officer positions. 

The writing  was on the wall, when OWN pulled the plug on one of its biggest and most expensive bets — an evening talk show starring Rosie O’Donnell. Following in the mist of it all constant internal power struggle, that led OWN to fired 20% of its work force, also the lost of many directors and departure of more than a dozen senior executives led to Winfrey, assuming the title of chief executive, following the move Discovery, invested $312 million in the channel, to keep the network afloat, a move seen as an attempt to stabilize the channel.

 

 

The faith of OWN channel stumbles suggest, at the least, that even in celebrity-obsessed America, fame alone doesn’t guarantee success, sustaining an entire network proved difficult.

 

The news came after earlier this year Hearst Magazines reported  planning to lay off 60 staffers from Winfrey’s publication, The Oprah Magazine. The news came as Oprah signed on for a multi-year deal with Apple TV + in 2018.