Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Oprah Drops The Soap!!

Oh, yes,  I'm calling out OPRAH!! I was tuning into MSNBC today and saw the program head for Discovery Channel  (OWN) and he was saying "be patient"!! Ratings? HA! "It takes cable channels years to develop a following."
Now, I don't know much about running a  giant cable channel but I do know a little something about building a fan base. Oprah blew it when she dissed "Daytime TV" in her video message to Soap Stars, out in April. 



In other words, kiss off!! "The support of the audience" is the key, as she's said-- but guess what? Bet you're WISHING you had that kind of numbers for your floundering shows on OWN about now. 
You know what she should have done?
How about at least saying she'd TRY to come to the rescue and  "talk with people" about having them come over to her network? Maybe say "I'd love to explore the possibilities" of a scripted show on OWN and would work really had to help the soap fans find a home on this network. NOW don't GET ME WRONG ,  I have no clue the money or "legal stuff" that would go into such a venture but the big O could have at least pretended to care. Can you imagine if she forged something with Susan Lucci for saving AMC and had that as a point on her new channel?? If she would have threw a crumb,  we would have followed and been forever grateful.

Ah, but she didn't Blanche, she didn't.
Instead, her network is a big ol' ratings flatline.  I am going out there and saying this: Many of us, No..MOST of us that would watch her following our soaps just DON'T WANT TO TUNE in anymore.  The big 'built in audience" We are GONE lady.


FROM MSNBC...read the full article at the top link, good stuff! 

“I’ve been in TV all my life and I know most television programmers do not start the meeting by ‘How is this going to serve the viewer?’ ” Winfrey said. “Numbers are important, but they’re not as important to me right now as they might be to you. What I’m concerned about is building the channel with programming that is meaningful to our viewers.” 

Oh we Daytime fans  know what you could have tried to do to make OWN meaningful. We know.  

12 comments:

  1. With PP looking for a network to pick up the internet version, why wouldn't Oprah offer to get involved in that??
    I mean, she has ZERO audience right now. For lots of reasons.
    Can't understand if all she has to do is 'run' the shows, why she wouldn't be willing to do that.

    btw..I NEVER watched Oprah. NEVER.

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  2. Serves her right! the woman was just a bit too pleased with herself. if she couldnt do the soaps cause of money or even just not wanting to, ok, her choice but her snotty attitude was just the end....the mild annoyance and dislike of her I was starting to feel blossomed full flower, and screw you Oprah,

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  3. Read an excellent article about Oprah last week on the AV Club website. Oprah's ratings had been in a slow but steady decline for the last few years, ever since she stopped being an "entertainer" and started focusing on being a "teacher." Ratings went up after she announced she was stopping her show, but now she's running her network the same way as she'd been running her show, and viewers aren't tuning in. In broad terms, people want entertainment, not lectures, when they watch tv.

    I never watched AMC, but I do know it used to have the reputation of being a socially responsible show, mixing real issues with the usual love and adventure stories. It would seem to have been the perfect show for her network.

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  4. You are correct Hope. It was the way Oprah stated she didn't want the soaps that came across as cold & hard.

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  5. She has more money than _ _ _, she nevers has to do anything again and she will still be one of the richest persons in America. She is no fan of the soaps, she got to big for her britches. LOL

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  6. It isn't that she got to big..in reality, her network now is a flop.
    Bring on something that will get you noticed. If PP leased these shows, they are putting up most of the money. All they need is to find a network to carry it.

    Its OK. I am sick of Dr Phil, Oprah, Gayle......I won't have to look at them during commericals!

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  7. it's too...

    Seriously, soaps are dying you may not like the fact, but the ratings speak for themselves..

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  8. The ratings show how horribly written these soaps are.
    Watch 'The Bay'. True soap on the internet. After watching that, there are no excuses for daytime soaps not succeeding.

    Soaps aren't dying. The writers are killing the stories. BIG difference.

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  9. The ratings are actually comparable to many cable tv shows-- plus it brings an audience with it. Look at the Chew... they went LOWER than soaps.
    I think Oprah missed a built in loyal audience that would have built up her base and then spread the word.

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  10. skeebob said it best.

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  11. I agree Karen. Oprah passed up on something that would be nothing but success for her & her network.
    Maybe with the failure of her network, she wants to get out of the business??

    I mean, its not like she has to work.

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  12. Trixie, Skeebob always says it best.

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