Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Oprah Winfrey Network history
Oprah Winfrey Network company history timeline
Later on November 20, Winfrey officially announced that The Oprah Winfrey Show would conclude in 2011, after its 25th and final season.
On January 26, 2012, Lisa Erspamer resigned from OWN; she was replaced in the interim by veteran Discovery executive and former TLC vice president Rita Mullin.
However, viewership was still low, and the series was cancelled in March 2012.
The channel's losses were estimated to be $330 million as of May 2012.
Robbie was seen on the show firing him in 2012 for hitting two other workers at the restaurant, including Andre.
Perry's first two productions for OWN—the primetime soap opera The Haves and the Have Nots, and the sitcom Love Thy Neighbor—premiered on May 28 and 29, 2013 respectively.
In 2013 Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Discovery responded by raising the channel's retransmission consent fee (OWN was provided to cable providers effectively for free for its first two years on air) to a level more in line with other basic cable channels, a move that the company expected to allow the channel to break even in late-2013.
The St Louis Post-Dispatch has also reported that Andre was originally considered a suspect in a June 2015 burglary at Robbie's home, in which someone made off with $220,000 in cash and jewelry.
The 'Oprah effect' has spread to Weight Watchers: she bought a 10% stake in 2015 (since lowered to 7%) and acts as a brand ambassador.
Robbie later sued her son in June 2016 to stop him from infringing on the Miss Sweetie brand to operate three other restaurants, but he most recently was co-owner of a Sweetie Pie's location in Jackson, Miss.)
The June 2016 premiere of Greenleaf was OWN's highest-rated series premiere to date, with 3.04 million viewers.
In 2017 it was announced that Discovery was acquiring a majority share in OWN, though Winfrey would remain involved in the channel.
In April 2018, OWN ordered two new series from Will Packer—the drama Ambitions and the dating show Ready to Love.
In July 2018, Winfrey signed a non-exclusive, multi-platform content deal with Apple Inc.; it is not expected to affect her role at OWN.
In October 2018, network president Erik Logan announced that he would step down at the end of the year to pursue a job as head of content for the World Surf League.
She won the Cecil B. DeMille Award (a Golden Globe for lifetime achievement) in 2018.
The show that helped give OWN direction, Welcome to Sweetie Pie's, ended in 2018 after 100 episodes—and some major drama on the home front.
In December 2020, Discovery increased its ownership in OWN from 73% to 95% for $35 million in an all-stock deal, giving Harpo approximately 1.34 million shares in Discovery.
OWN stated that Perry's series would continue to air on the network through at least 2020, and that it would "continue to aggressively expand its roster of premium original scripted series."
In 2021 Oprah made headlines with her candid interview of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, the couple’s first since they stopped being working members of the British royal family.
Rate how well Oprah Winfrey Network lives up to its initial vision.
Oprah Winfrey Network jobs
Do you work at Oprah Winfrey Network?
Does Oprah Winfrey Network communicate its history to new hires?
Oprah Winfrey Network competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia | 1997 | $141.9M | 406 | - |
| Real Simple | 2000 | $88.0M | 30,000 | - |
| The Ellen Degeneres Show | - | $16.0M | 196 | - |
| New Wave Entertainment | - | $85.0M | 150 | 2 |
| WE tv | 1997 | $14.0M | 350 | - |
| Lieberman Productions | - | $7.6M | 125 | - |
| Magnet Media | 2000 | $3.0M | 50 | 5 |
| HGTV | 1994 | $88.0M | 7,500 | - |
| Trollbäck | 1999 | $4.0M | 38 | - |
| Trailer Park | 1994 | $14.0M | 400 | 13 |
Oprah Winfrey Network history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Oprah Winfrey Network, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Oprah Winfrey Network. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Oprah Winfrey Network. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Oprah Winfrey Network. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Oprah Winfrey Network and its employees or that of Zippia.
Oprah Winfrey Network may also be known as or be related to OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Oprah Winfrey Network.