Oprah’s in trouble.
Or at least that’s what her detractors would have you believe.
Nearly a year has passed since the deity of daytime television became the charge behind an entire channel with the launch of OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network, and it’s been well documented that the results haven’t been consistent with the Midas touch Oprah has enjoyed for 25 years.
OWN premiered Jan. 1 to an average of 505,000 viewers. The numbers have declined since, falling to about 135,000 — not exactly the 16.4 million who tuned in to the final “Oprah Winfrey Show” in May.
But as a devout member of the church of Oprah, I’m prepared to convince you Winfrey’s straits aren’t as dire as they seem.
Consider the platform. “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was syndicated. In most markets, viewers could catch Oprah on a broadcast network like NBC or ABC.
OWN isn’t as readily available. It’s not part of my basic cable package with Cox, and as much as I’d love to shell out the cash for a 24/7 stream of all things Oprah, I can’t justify the extra expense.
It would be unfair to expect OWN to pull in as many eyeballs as Winfrey had on even the worst day of her talk show.
But everyone — Oprah included — thought there would be more fanfare. Winfrey told Entertainment Weekly in May the network was “not where I want it to