‘O’ AIN’T SO ROSIE
Failure of talk show points to woes
THE ROSIE O’donnell show was supposed to be the magnet that would draw big numbers of viewers to Oprah Winfrey’s OWN cable network — before it ended up a big flop.
Insiders blame the failure of the show on a lack of support from the network, and a lack of experience on the part of Winfrey’s Harpobased team doing anything other than a show built around Winfrey.
“Initially, we had a lot of support,” says one show insider, who can’t be named because of a confidentiality agreement. “The first week we heard everything went well. But after the premiere week we started to hear less and less from OWN.”
Winfrey and her team were banking on O’donnell to pull viewers into the fledgling network as it struggled to get an audience. O’donnell talked about it being a new chance and even moved her family to Chicago, where she worked out of the same studio Winfrey used for her daytime show.
But six months into the run of “The Rosie Show,” the show was canceled, costing the network millions. A few days later, Winfrey was in Chicago informing the OWN staff of 30 layoffs as part of a corporate restructuring.
“It was a top-heavy show, and Rosie didn’t really respect all the people from Harpo,” said another show staffer. “Sure, she was difficult, but what talent isn’t? There was a lack of effective management. Oprah was really in the background, letting it all happen.”
During its run, the show was altered, with an effort to make it more intimate.
What went wrong with “The Rosie Show” is up for debate. Was it the network, was it that audiences have grown tired of O’donnell over the years, or was it a lack of effort from the Ownteam?
Representatives for O’donnell and Winfrey said they were unavailable to comment.
What is clear, however, is the massive “Rosie” failure could be a microcosm of what was wrong with OWN and what management says they’re on track to fix.
“We’re in very good shape, actually,” says OWN president Erik Logan, who worked on Winfrey’s daytime show. “I think we’ve got a lot of good momentum behind us on a lot of key fronts.”
Officials from OWN and Discovery, while praising O’donnell, say that the show simply didn’t connect with viewers, and given the high costs involved, the right decision was to end it.
While TV shows come and go like clothing fads, O’donnell’s effort is notable because everyone had a lot riding on it.the cancellation and the layoffs, followed by a report from analysts SNL Kagan that the network would lose $142.9 million this year, set up a layer of bad media going into Discovery’s upfront advertising session in Chicago last Thursday.
But Logan says the network has a solid ratings growth story, backed by the performance of Winfrey’s “Next Chapter” interview series, as well as some returning shows, such as the reality show “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” and “Our America with Lisa Ling.”
OWN launched 15 months ago, replacing Discovery Health on cable services around the country. At first the channel carried Winfrey’s name and was conceived to continue her mission of positive, uplifting programming that she’d turned into a gazillion dollara-year, multiplatform business built around her.
Yet when it launched, Winfrey was still producing the final season of her daytime show, and what viewers initially got from OWN was a channel with Winfrey’s name on it, but very little Winfrey.
In fact, what did work was a behind-the-scenes show built around putting together her syndicated daytime show.
The rest of the lineup was filled with some original fare, but largely reruns of movies such as “The Bridges of Madison County” and repurposed shows from the Discovery Networks family.
“She was busy, she didn’t have a lot of time,” Logan says of Winfey then. “She was doing the ‘ Oprah’ show, we were sitting at Harpo and trying to figure out how to end this epic run. She didn’t have a lot of spare time. As soon as the show sunsetted, she tuned all of her attention to the network.”
Last July, OWN shook up the management team, again, as Winfrey became chief executive officer and chief creative officer. Logan and Sheri Salata, two of her longtime producers, were named co-presidents.
By then, though, the network had become known more for its frequent executive changes at the top and less for its programs.
“They knew how to do one really successful show, but a network is a different thing,” says a former “Rosie” staffer. “They should have people who know how to run a network in positions of power.”
The new channel faced other obstacles, too. Viewers that loved Winfrey on free TV now had to pay to get cable to see her on OWN. And those who had cable, had trouble
finding it.
Reader James Timmerman says Winfrey was regular viewing in his home outside of Cincinnati, but when she went to cable the cost was prohibitive. “Thus the problem,” Timmerman says. “A great number of her loyal viewers couldn’t follow her.”
In fairness to OWN, it takes time to develop a cable following. Indeed, it took years before Bravo, which now has a solid brand identity, really took off. And all businesses go through phases of mangagement and staffing change at startup.
What is different, though, is no other cable network has launched with the name-brand of Winfrey, bringing with it bigger, perhaps unrealistic, expectations in a world looking for instant gratification.
“We just thought it would kind of be different because she’s Oprah,” says analyst Brad Adgate with Horizon Media. “And what we found is it’s just as challenging for Oprah as it is everybody else.”
Adgate also points out that Winfrey’s inspirational channel comes at a time when what gets the most buzz on cable TV are shows like MTV’S “Jersey Shore,” E!’s “Keeping Up with The Kardashians” and Bravo’s “Real Houswives” franchise.
Discovery officials admit some mistakes were made along the way — on-screen and behind. With the recent restructuring, officials believe the channel is on good economic footing with support from advertisers and cable operators.
And the million-plus people that tuned in for her interview with family members of the late Whitney Houston showed everyone Winfrey still has the power to pull viewers in with the right show.
“I’m very encouraged,” says Discovery Communications president David Zaslav. “We remain 100% committed to OWN. We are reducing our cost structure, working with our advertising and affiliate partners, and putting more Oprah and more quality content on the air. The goal is to accelerate our cash flow growth and build long-term asset value. We are on track for both.”
Winfrey was not available for comment, according to a network spokeswoman. She’s currently taking her “Oprah’s Lifeclass” self-help show for a series of live telecasts around the country, stopping in New York on April 2 at Radio City.
“She is a rock,” says Logan. “She really is. She has got such a clear vision of what it is we need to do. Tuning out the ancillary noise and focusing on the task at hand is one of her many gifts.”
The teams at Discovery and Harpo are both behind the channel, Logan says. “That’s the reason you hear the same level of confidence and bullishness,” he says. “We do have our best moments ahead of us.”