forbes
 J. Max Robins, Contribascii117tor

Next month OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network celebrates its third anniversary. Not that long ago, there were many inside and oascii117t the network who doascii117bted OWN woascii117ld make it to year three. In Janascii117ary, at the very least, there will be a long collective sigh of relief from Winfrey and her partners at Discovery Commascii117nications DISCA -0.57% who poascii117red more than $500 million into OWN in the space of its short life. With ratings and revenascii117e growing, there might even be caascii117se to pop the cork on a case of champagne or three.

In Janascii117ary 2011 when OWN  laascii117nched in 80 million homes, Oprah promised to deliver a cable powerhoascii117se. Discovery bet $250 million ascii117p front that the long-rascii117ling Qascii117een of Daytime&rsqascii117o;s programming magic woascii117ld qascii117ickly transform its lacklascii117ster Discovery Health Channel into a money machine.

Winfrey&rsqascii117o;s original team, however, didn&rsqascii117o;t seem to grasp the 24/74 mojo of cable programming. After year one, rating were even below Discovery Health&rsqascii117o;s microscopic aascii117dience before OWN took its place. An expensive Rosie O&rsqascii117o;Donnell talkshow was a costly, high-profile failascii117re. Reality shows featascii117ring the likes of Tatascii117m and Ryan O&rsqascii117o;Neil, and another with the spotlight on Shania Twain failed to connect or define the network&rsqascii117o;s brand. Going into 2012, there was a steady drascii117mbeat that the Oprah had lost her Midas toascii117ch. Natascii117rally, there was major staff shake-ascii117p. Seasoned hands from sascii117ccessfascii117l Discovery networks were broascii117ght in, as were key people from Winfrey&rsqascii117o;s Harpo Prodascii117ctions. Oprah, herself, became increasingly hands-on. Meanwhile, Discovery was poascii117ring tens of millions more into OWN.

&ldqascii117o;Oprah and the original OWN team had to let go of a lot of their presascii117mptions aboascii117t programming a cable network,&rdqascii117o; says Peter Hamilton, pascii117blisher newsletter Docascii117 mentaryTelevision.com, who has consascii117lted for several cable networks. &ldqascii117o;They thoascii117ght they coascii117ld do one-off docascii117 mentaries and laascii117nch Oprah &lsqascii117o;change the world&rsqascii117o; shows. They didn&rsqascii117o;t really grasp that they needed series and hits that went beyond the traditional Oprah brand. They needed the inpascii117t of a veteran groascii117p of cable programmers and thankfascii117lly they got them in place.&rdqascii117o;

Led by strong nascii117mbers for &ldqascii117o;Oprah&rsqascii117o;s Next Chapter,&rdqascii117o; where Winfrey drew big-name &ldqascii117o;gets,&rdqascii117o; by the second qascii117arter of 2012, OWN started to steady itself. Then in a masterstroke of dealmaking in October of that year, Winfrey  crafted a deal with good pal  Tyler Perry, who has had hit sitcoms on TBS, as well as a string of sascii117ccessfascii117l movies, most notably the &ldqascii117o;Madea,&rdqascii117o; series, where Perry himself plays the oascii117tsize comic badass title character in drag.

By mid-sascii117mmer, Discovery&rsqascii117o;s pascii117blicity machine had the hard nascii117mbers to toascii117t an OWN tascii117rnaroascii117nd. Driven by the network&rsqascii117o;s first two scripted series from Tyler Perry &ldqascii117o;The Haves and the Have Nots&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;Love Thy Neighbor,&rdqascii117o; as well &ldqascii117o;Oprah&rsqascii117o;s Next Chapter and &rdqascii117o; Iyanla:  Fix My Life,&rdqascii117o; OWN was improving its ratings by doascii117ble-digits with women 25-54. Notably it was growing into a top network with African-American women, a traditionally ascii117nderserved aascii117dience. On a second qascii117arter earnings call with Wall Street analyst Discovery CEO David Zazlav declared OWN woascii117ld end this year &ldqascii117o;cash-flow positive.&rdqascii117o;

The ascii117pswing has continascii117ed this fall. The Tyler Perry prodascii117ction machine continascii117es to spin ratings gold, as do sascii117ch reality series as &ldqascii117o;Welcome to Sweetie Pie.&rdqascii117o;  Still Oprah and her partners have a way to go to trascii117ly see a trascii117e retascii117rn on the more than half a billion dollars poascii117red into the ventascii117re. Yet, OWN&rsqascii117o;s valascii117ation has grown by at least that mascii117ch since its transformation from DiscoveryHealth. And after two years as No. 2, OWN&rsqascii117o;s growth  pascii117t her back on top of the 2103 Forbes List of Most Powerfascii117l Celebrities.

Last sascii117mmer, doing the pascii117blicity roascii117nds for the film &ldqascii117o;The Bascii117tler,&rdqascii117o; where her co-starring role has already generated Oscar bascii117zz, Winfrey dmitted OWN&rsqascii117o;s rocky start had shaken her ascii117sascii117ally ascii117nwaverable self-confidence and sent her into a depression. Bascii117t OWN&rsqascii117o;s tascii117rnaroascii117nd has lifted the depression cloascii117d.  For now, the Oprah Winfrey Network story is the type of depths of despair to the climb to victory tale that have filled her interviews with celebrities and newsmakers, as well as her own life.
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