From my non-certified pop physiologist perspective, I have noticed that there is a difference between what people say they want and what they actually really want.

For instance, politicians always list education as one of the most important issues of our day, however, education funding is always the first program to get cut from budgets. And we say we want healthier food items on restaurant menus but the most popular items on any fast food restaurant remains the fat greasy stuff that will probably make us fat and ultimately kill us all.  And while we say that we want to see more positive images on television, the reality is that upbeat television programming are rating killers as they never really seem to capture our attention the way that trash-TV does.

And that is the big fat elephant in the room when it comes to the OWN channel.

According to published reports, the Discovery Channel, which had partnered with Oprah Winfrey for her new cable network is going to spend $15 million more to promote the Oprah Winfrey Network in hopes of exposing the fledging network to new viewership.  That’s right, after a cosmic (1-1-11) introduction and support from America’s favorite best friend Gayle King; the channel has been struggling to maintain a devoted audience. Even after firing a bunch of people including the former CEO Christina Norman and appointing herself as the head honchtress in charge, Oprah and her network continue to struggle not only for for viewers but also for content as at least one of the original shows have decided to take a walk.  According to the published reports, OWN will use the extra cash to promote the relaunch of the network, which officially began on Monday night.

Among the new shows, which have premiered includes the “The Rosie Show,” a messy variety-esque talk show featuring Rosie O’Donnell.  Also, Oprah has once again taken to the stage with Oprah Presents’ “Lifeclass,” which is basically the Queen of Talk sitting in a chair, rehashing “pivotal” personal moments in her life as well as offering viewers a look back at the “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” On Monday’s premier episode, Oprah discussed, again for the thousand time, her weight issues, including the infamous “fat wagon” and her relationship with long-time boyfriend Stedman Graham.  Last night, she followed up with a discussion on letting go of anger and a look back at the Terry McMillan and her gay ex-husband and …

…Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

Seriously, I can appreciate a good life lesson every now and then, especially when it comes from one of the most successful black women of our generation. But I don’t really want to hear this self-help Isht 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m just not that depressed. If I wanted to watch old clips from the Oprah Winfrey Show, well than I’ll just buy the box set of the Oprah Winfrey Show.  And If I wanted to be lectured to about the direction my life was/is taking, well I would go see my grandma more often. Judging by the weak ratings, many folks feel the same as I do.

For those, who believe that I am being too hard on Oprah, just think for a second about the popularity of reality and trash-talk shows.  After having watched hundreds of hours of these programs, for research purposes of course, I have found that the denizen of trailer park and ghettos, crying and screaming about who stole who’s boyfriend and who said what behind whose backs typically speaks more of the real, day-to-day appetite of the average Joes and Janes than the cult of the professional experts, who usually appear on the OWN network.  And you can debate with me if you must but we all know that people didn’t tune in to The Oprah Show just because she had the “secret” to a more balanced life or tips to better manage our money.  No, most of us tuned in to see Terry McMillan go at it with her gay husband, or to see the world exclusive interview with the woman, whose face got bitten off by the monkey and to watch Tom Cruise lose his damn mind and stomp around on the couch for 5 minutes.

Why? Well, because the key to any and every good story is conflict and the problem with the OWN channel is that it has no divergence to help illicit the maximum emotional impact, which is needed to connect with the audience. In other words, if there is nothing to solve at the end of a 30 to 60 minutes show and everything is all rose petals, what really is keeping people from using their remotes and watching a family of racist midgets strippers argue over who left the toilet seat up?  Worse yet, if I were truly interested in being educated about money-matter issues or spirituality, why would I be watching television? Why wouldn’t I be reading a book?

Listen there is no other non-family/close friend person I love more than the mighty O. And I truly want her channel to succeed just because her name is attached to it.  But if she is expecting this channel to rise above the ratings basement of CSPAN 3 and the Golf Network, than she is going to have to hype it up more.  I’m not saying go all-Bad Girls Club or Jerry Springer or even B.E.T on us. But at the very least, try to entertain us.  Because after a long day slaving away at a job that we sometimes care about, the last thing any of us want to do is come home and be lectured by the likes of Ryan & Tatum O’Neal, Shania Twain, The Judds, and Sarah Ferguson. I mean, what “I Love The 80s” did this lineup fall out of?

Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.

Oprah has decided to take matters into her own hands at her cable network OWN. After firing CEO Christina Norman in May, Winfrey has extended her role as Chairman and Chief Creative Officer to include the title of CEO. Since its debut in February, the network has suffered from dismal ratings. At a few points, its ratings fell lower than the Discovery Health channel it replaced according to the Wall Street Journal. Executives cited lackluster programming, which veered towards more serious and sober topics, and the lack of entertaining show for the low viewership.

As much as Winfrey is grounded in the spiritual upliftment of her audience, it’s obvious that she is highly concerned with her brand as a top seller and doesn’t want to waste any time in having her channel become a premier network amongst women.

by R. Asmerom

Is four months enough time to prove yourself in a new job? Discovery Communications, the co-owners of Oprah Winfrey’s new network OWN, says “yes, it is.” Norman, who has been heavily publicized as the face of OWN in the past year has been given her walking papers due to the company’s dissatisfaction with the ratings.

The network has been defending its slow start since it launched months ago, with the highest rated program being “Oprah Behind The Scenes,” which is not ironically, one of the more upbeat shows amongst the slate of serious-themed programs like “Addicted to Food” and “Breaking Down The Bars,” which focuses on female prisoners.

The new interim director and the COO of Discovery Communications, Peter Liguori, implied that the lack of entertainment was part of the reason for OWN’s dismal ratings.  “Every single one of Oprah’s shows should be purposeful,” he said in an interview with the New York Times . “But the price of entry for that purpose — that show’s intent, its message, its takeaway — is that you are entertained. I think you’re gonna see more joy on the network.”

Norman, a former MTV executive, may have not been fired if she wasn’t charged with leading one of the most watched channel births in cable history but alas, the expectations associated with running a business with Oprah’s name attached would be too difficult to satisfy for most. Launching a new network is extremely challenging and despite Norman falling short of expectations, the company credits her with helping to guide it to launch. Although OWN has yet to best the ratings of the Discovery Health channel, which OWN replaced, the company is still expected to be profitable in its first year according to The New York Times.

Let’s hope Discovery make the right decision and won’t turn to filling the channel with fluff  to get a direct ratings impact and justify its decision.