Oprah Winfrey determined to make OWN a success

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. The audience reaction might have been muted and the early ratings might not have been what she wanted, but Oprah Winfrey is still determined to own her power and make her OWN cable network a viable success.

OWN president Erik Logan told reporters Thursday at the summer meeting of the TV Critics Association that the cable channel has seen a double-digit increase in primetime ratings of late, and is now on track to meet its projected audience targets for 2013. Winfrey did not appear at the press conference in person.

Logan and OWN co-president Sherri Salata announced three new series for 2013: Life with La Toya, a docureality series about a devoted daughter and peacemaking sister; The Customer is Always Right, a how-to series dedicated to turning around struggling busineses, from Ashton Kutchers production company; and Neighborvention, an intervention program focusing on unruly neighbours.

Winfrey's weekly interview program, Oprahs Next Chapter, will feature in-depth interviews in the coming season with Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Hudson, Bette Midler and Stephen Colbert, among others.

Winfrey will talk to Colbert in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Colbert agreed to be interviewed as himself, not his TV character as seen nightly on The Colbert Report. Colbert keeps his personal life separate from his public persona, and rarely agrees to interviews.

Returning programs include Oprahs Lifeclass, the family docu-series Welcome to Sweetie Pies and the life-aspirational Super Soul Sunday. New fall programs include Oprah: Where Are They Now?, TV Guide Magazines Top 25 Oprah Show Moments and Married to the Army: Alaska, a docu-series about army families dealing with the emotional roller coaster of homecomings from the war in Afghanistan.

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