Here’s today’s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n
How Oprah Winfrey’s TV network can finally come into its OWN. <\/strong>The media mogul’s year-old TV network scored a ratings bump <\/a>on New Year’s Day with the debut of her new interview show Oprah’s Next Chapter<\/em>. But, overall, OWN (a joint venture of Oprah’s Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications) continues to struggle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Executives at OWN are reportedly considering shifting their programming focus toward African-Americans <\/a>in an effort to find a successful niche. That’s smacks a bit of defeatism. There’s nothing wrong, of course, with reaching out to an African-American audience but\u00a0 Oprah’s brand is actually broader than that.<\/p>\n Since no one asked me, here are five steps that I believe OWN can take to grow its audience in the year (and years) ahead. <\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Define the brand and program to it.<\/strong> As noted here yesterday<\/a>, Oprah’s brand is one that celebrates spiritual growth, self improvement and the virtues of hope, forgiveness, compassion and gratitude. It carries a refreshing message that naturally appeals to mass audiences — especially in troubled times.<\/p>\n That’s why the network should review its roster and only keep those programs (and stars) that fit the brand. After a quick review of OWN’s schedule<\/a>, I would suggest that Oprah’s own show, of course, would make the cut. So would shows like America’s Money Class <\/em>(featuring financial-planning advice from Suze Orman), Extreme Clutter with Peter Walsh <\/em>(teaching people how to de-clutter their lives), Our America with Lisa Ling <\/em>(profiling real people across the country), Visionaries<\/em>: Inside the Creative Mind <\/em>(profiling the likes of Tyler Perry and others)\u00a0 and Super Soul Sunday\u00a0<\/em>(featuring conversations with authors, thinkers and spiritual leaders). Strong documentaries like the excellent Serving Life<\/em> <\/a>(produced for OWN by Odyssey Networks) also fit the profile and the network would be wise to order up more of them.<\/p>\n The network should avoid any reality programming with concepts that smack of exploitation or voyeuristic celebrity cheesiness. In that category I’d include last year’s Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals<\/a> <\/em>that purported to chronicle the reconciliation between the father-daughter acting duo.\u00a0 I think such reconciliations are wonderful but they should be accomplished in private and not subjected to prying eyes or Nielsen ratings.<\/p>\n Also,\u00a0 declining ratings for Rosie O’Donnell’s OWN talk show<\/a> suggest that a change might be due\u00a0 in that time slot.<\/p>\n 2. Develop new talk and reality programming around positive personalities. <\/strong>Possibilities include Mitch Albom<\/a>, the inspirational author\/screenwriter\/philanthropist whose books Tuesday’s with Morry<\/em> and For One More Day<\/em>\u00a0 Harpo Productions<\/a> turned into successful TV movies.<\/p>\n Also, positive evangelist\/author Joel Osteen<\/a>. In fact, Pack Your Bags<\/em><\/a>, a reality concept involving the Lakewood Church<\/a> pastor is being developed by Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Voice<\/em>) that follows ordinary people embarking on efforts to help others. OWN would be a natural home for the concept.<\/p>\n And, if I might suggest, Beliefnet<\/em><\/a> would also be a good partner in developing such projects.\u00a0 Therese Borchard\u00a0 (Beyond Blue<\/em><\/a>), for example, inspiringly tackles the subject of depression with both wisdom and humor.<\/p>\n 3. Develop positive interstitials as a network signature. <\/strong>During commercial breaks, the network could reinforce it’s positive messaging with short pieces in which people (famous or not) offer tiny doses or wisdom that they apply to their own lives.\u00a0 Perhaps, OWN could work with Odyssey Networks to produce shorter\/TV-friendly versions of Odyssey’s Call on Faith<\/a> <\/em>videos which are currently available on mobile devices.\u00a0 Here’s one featuring the aforementioned Mitch Albom:<\/p>\n