You're reading it here first.
I can reveal that although MultiChoice looked at possibly adding the channel at launch or close after (and will continue to look at how it performs once it starts early next year) MultiChoice has no plans of adding the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) anytime soon.
MultiChoice will consider adding OWN - the channel that Oprah Winfrey will start in January in America and Canada - after about six or eight months after launch . . . if it does well enough.
''Originally it was a no-brainer. It's Oprah Winfrey. But the channel has had some management turn-over and Discovery has now invested double the amount they've originally envisaged in the channel. So we as MultiChoice have made the decision that we will not take OWN for DStv at launch,'' says Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's general manager for content.
''We'd like OWN to sit for at least six to eight months so that we can see. I think the big thing about OWN is an expectation that you're going to see a lot of Oprah. And at this stage, not. There's lots of documentaries, her friends like Gayle and then she's trying her hand at scripted series again. I think the jury is out. I mean we'd love to have OWN on DStv, but we're not just going to take it because of the name. We want to make sure that it has a life. Also we hate putting channels on and then having to take them off when they don't perform,'' says Aletta Alberts.
