Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Oprah, You Break It You OWN It

To me, the worst thing that the supposed "smart lady" of entertainment ever did to her career was to back Barack Obama in 2009.  After doing so, her syndicated show's ratings plummeted.  Now, for over a year, she's struggled to keep her "OWN" fledgling cable channel alive.  But, over the weekend, it was disclosed that the young cable channel is now 1/3 of a billion dollars in the red with no improvement in sight.  Her national, daily audience is only 308,000; despite having cable and satellite access to more than 150 million homes. Those meager audience numbers are pretty disastrous for a person who, with her previous show, garnered 7-1/2 million viewers every day.  Even Oprah's own appearances on her "OWN" channel have not improved ratings.  And, obviously, her choice of Rosie O'Donnell was a major mistake.

Rumors are flying that "OWN" will be scrapped within a year.  This may just prove that people would prefer their "idols" be silent on politics.  With her backing of Obama, Oprah broke "OWN" before it ever went on the air.  Now, historically speaking, she will forever be seen as loser in this foray into cable entertainment.  A sorry reality for someone who once had such an illustrious career.

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