Oprah Winfrey Network fires one-fifth of staff

PA Images / Paul Beaty/AP

Oprah Winfrey's channel OWN has laid off 30 employees in the wake of poor ratings.

The channel launched in January 2011, following the end of Winfrey's 25-year run on her daytime talkshow, The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Programming on the new network has garnered disappointing ratings in the months since its launch, despite a brief surge of interest after Houston's exclusive interview with Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.

Comedienne and actress Rosie O'Donnell's chatshow was axed last week, after only five months on the air.

Winfrey has now dismissed 30 employees working for the company, and plans to restructure network operations and programming in both Los Angeles and New York City.

In a statement on the lay-offs released this week, Winfrey said: "As CEO, I have a responsibility to chart the course for long-term success for the network. To wholly achieve that long-term success, this was a necessary next step."

It is unclear what new direction the cable channel plans to go in, but according to reports, investors at Discovery Communications will be taking a more hands-on role in the company and its content.

Watch Oprah Winfrey interview Bobbi Kristina ! Brown on OWN below: