Oprah set to turn first profit by late 13

Oprah Winfreys struggling cable network, OWN, could turn a profit by late 2013, according to Discovery officials.

Discovery and Winfrey are partners in the network, which has proven to be a ratings disappointment since launching to great fanfare in January 2011.

Discovery was forced to more-than-double its initial investment in OWN to keep the flagging network afloat, according to The Wall Street Journal.

But Discovery CEO David Zaslav, citing ratings increases since last January, now says OWN should be profitable by the back half of 2013, according to reports.

Winfrey ended her 25-year run on her syndicated talk show, Oprah, in May 2011 and, since then, has focused on running OWN.

Winfreys weekly show, Oprahs Next Chapter, has failed thus far to find an audience.

OWN also tried to launch a franchise show Rosie ODonnells talk show, T he Rosie Show but that bombed in the ratings and was canceled after just five months.