Oprah Winfrey gets her OWN channel
Oprah Winfrey's media empire is about to get a lot bigger with the announcement Tuesday of a deal with Discovery Communication for her own cable channel.
The cable-and-Internet joint venture will include a network she'll run called OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.
In the cashless transaction, Discovery will contribute its Discovery Health Channel to be rebranded as OWN in 2009 and simulcast in HD. The channel, launched in 1999, reaches more than 70 million cable and satellite subscribers.
Winfrey's company Harpo will kick in her website, Oprah.com, which the companies say tallies more than 6 million unique visitors and 80 million page views per month.
Winfrey will be chairman of the independent venture, to be named The Oprah Winfrey Network LLC, and wield full editorial control. The partners will look for a CEO to handle day-to-day operations.
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