Oprah Winfrey made her mark on the world through broadcast television and her syndicated talk show, but when her beloved show ended in 2011, Winfrey hoped that her fans would be able to get enough of her and the programming they loved on OWN, Winfrey's own cable TV channel. OWN struggled to find viewership in its early days, but original series and high-profile interviews have helped to boost the channel's audience.
OWN premiered at the beginning of 2011 in the spot once occupied by the Discovery Health Channel. Ratings were disappointing at the beginning, leading to changes in leadership; Winfrey herself took the reins as CEO in July of 2011.
Programming on OWN relies heavily on talk shows, including series hosted by Winfrey proteges Dr. Phil McGraw, Rachel Ray and Nate Berkus. In 2012, producer Tyler Perry began developing original series for OWN, and his drama "The Haves and the Have Nots" is, to date, the most successful series on the channel. "Oprah's Next Chapter" features Winfrey's long-form interviews with celebrities; her interviews with recently disgraced athlete Lance Armstrong and the family of Whitney Houston shortly after the singer's death achieved the highest single-episode ratings that the channel has drawn to date.
