Dear Oprah and OWN Executives –
We here at www.theDailyOWN.com love OWN…but we are speaking as viewers in your target demo and for the viewers…we WANT you to be successful…we KNOW that you will be successful….but we are also hoping, YOU HEAR us when we say, we want to help! So, here are 10 ways that we think you can increase your ratings.
- Open Session with Oprah – one hour, live TV. Who wouldn’t be watching?
- Advertise…I don’t see OWN anywhere (except once on CNN and in your magazine). Give us a couple of T-shirts to wear or a few coffee tumblers to show off to the world…let your viewers help you be seen. We’re here to help!
- Give us shows that will uplift us. OWN seems to be heavy weighted with old Discovery Health shows. We want uplifting, change your life TV. We can only handle a certain amount of dark and heavy on our soul programming. Give us new shows to make us think, laugh, change and enjoy!
- HELP us watch! Shows come – then disappear after you get people watching. WHAT????? You’re killing us by moving the shows from night to night to night without telling the viewers! We go to sit down and watch the shows and they are gone…without warning. Totally messed up!
- Around the Kitchen Table with Dr. Maya Angelou…ask her to give us a night or two of what it would be like to sit and have conversations with her. Her fried chicken that Oprah talks about…a bonus!
- Gayle LOVES food… so take me to LUNCH with Gayle….around the town…around the corner…around the world and show us what she’s eating! Move over Rachel Ray…
- Dr. Arman’s – My Brain Does WHAT?
- Summer Break – How would you spend your summer? Well…take an audience along! At least for 1 week. You could probably squeeze a whole season of 13 to 26 shows out of 1 week. Sheri Salata can do it! She’s amazing!
- Stop flooding us with re-runs. We love your new programming, but after two or three or four or five runs of the same show… When you get us hooked, give us something new…or at least TELL US when we can be prepared to see something new. Set some expectations…”Under commit & Over deliver.” We loved Enough Already! with Peter Walsh…but it ended (and disappeared entirely for at least 4 weeks from the schedule) in February…and there is NO WORD on when the next ones are coming. Same with Big Bowl of Love with Cristina Ferrare. We know Cristina’s been signed for more shows…but WHEN will we get to see them? In the summer? Next Fall? Help us want to stay tuned in…we are just asking for the basics here.
- Stedman. Enough said.
Like this article. I’m not sure though if it’s just the programming that needs to be beefed up in order for OWN to reach its ratings potential.
I am sure it took time (and we’re talking years) for most, if not all of the now established cable television channels to find their feet and their flow. These channels were able to do so quietly and gradually over time until they became “successful” channels. Fortunately or unfortunately, because OWN is Oprah’s channel, people expect immediate, high-powered ratings success within months of the channel’s birth, which is probably not realistic. Even Oprah said in a recent interview that she will have to pay her dues to get OWN to where she wants it to be, and that could take a few years.
The other concern is I’ve heard OWN is a premium channel in most or all cable TV markets across the U.S. and Canada. It is hard for any new cable TV channel (even Oprah’s) to break into the already crowded cable TV lineup. It is harder to compete for ratings with institutions like Lifetime and Bravo when they are offered as part of the Basic cable TV package in probably all markets and people don’t have to pay extra for them.
There might be financial constraints and lack of channel space for this but becoming part of the Basic cable TV package offering for people is likely to help OWN compete more strongly.
So many of us are rooting for OWN’s medium- and long-term success.
Ratings increased this summer with the airing of “Finding Sarah” and “Ryan & Tatum: The O’Neals”. Let’s hope that trend continues (upwards) in a few months when Rosie O’Donnell and Oprah debut their new shows on OWN!!!
The biggest problem is that OWN is a premium channel alot of people because of a bad economy, are trying to shedd as much unnecessary expenses as they can therefore other people won’t be able to watch, because they choose to go with the cheaper decision of basic cable. OWN should team up with online tv as well to promote OWN or the shows that come on OWN via HULU or Crackle to generate more revenue and exposure. Because OWN is still in its infancy it going to take time for people to catch on.