BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey returning to South African television as TLC channel on DStv is renamed TLC Entertainment.

You're reading it here first. 

I can break the news and reveal that Oprah Winfrey is returning to South Africa television from October with a dedicated programming block of her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), which includes her new talk show Oprah's Next Chapter, on the TLC channel on MultiChoice's DStv which is being renamed TLC Entertainment.

This is a story I've been tracking for months, and made specific media enquiries about it last week, this week, and the latest yesterday, and this afternoon the news that Oprah Winfrey programming is coming to South Africa as TLC on MultiChoice's DStv changes to TLC Entertainment.

The existing TLC channel will remain on On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV and won't be changing to TLC Entertainment and also won't contain the Oprah Winfrey programming.

The move to make OWN programming available on South Africa on TLC Entertainment follows after Discovery Networks International (DNI) did a similar roll-out earlier this year in the United Kingdom, and also announced the same for Australia.

South African viewers will once again be able to watch Oprah Winfrey who is also visiting South Africa in October, when the OWN programming kicks in together with the renaming of the channel from 17 October.

Besides Oprah's Next Chapter, the talk show queen's highly rated new talk show, viewers will also be able to see Oprah Winfrey in programmes such as Oprah's Master Class and Oprah's Lifeclass and Super Soul Sunday.

Oprah's Next Chapter with Justin Bieber shown in 2012 on TLC in South Africa on DStv and TopTV was the number one programme on TLC for the year on the channel, while in January the two part interview with Lance Armstrong ranked number one in its timeslot across all channels and became the best ever rated portfolio show in South Africa, achieving a share above 7% with viewers aged 15 and older.

OWN programming will be shown in primetime on Thursdays and Sundays on TLC Entertainment on DStv, with repeats during dayparts during the rest of the week.

"It's no secret that South Africa and Oprah Winfrey enjoy a mutual affinity - so bringing the block to this special market is the right step," says Luis Silberwasser, the executive vice president and chief content officer for Discovery Networks International.

"Building upon the success of the block in the UK and the excitement surrounding its upcoming launch in Australia, we are proud to bring this unique offering to DStv viewers," he says.

"Oprah couldn't be more proud and honoured to share her new television programs with South Africa," says Erik Logan, the president of OWN. "This an exciting milestone moment in our continued international expansion."

"Securing the OWN programming block is crucial," says James Gibbons, the senior vice president and country manager for Discovery Networks for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region, saying that the rebranded TLC Entertainment "will feature content tailored to suit our loyal viewers" which will make the channel "even more enjoyable and appointment-to-view".

Collins Khumalo, the CEO of MultiChoice South Africa is also chiming in with a "Welcome back to Africa, Oprah!"

"We have a great partnership with Discovery Networks International that benefits our customers, bringing extraordinary entertainment through their channels. The refreshed TLC Entertainment is yet another example, with the inclusion of the best selection of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network programmes," says Collins Khumalo.

Besides Oprah's Next Chapter viewers will be able to watch Oprah's Master Class in which globally recognised names talk about their successes and failures, Oprah's Lifeclass in which  experts give life advice and Super Soul Sunday in which thinkers, visionaries and authors discuss themes such as true happiness, spirituality and personal fulfillment.

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey's Lance Armstrong interview on TLC in South Africa pulls in huge viewership numbers for his doping confession.

George Burns/OWN

You're reading it here first. 

South African viewers and pay-TV subscribers tuned in in their hundreds of thousands for Friday and Saturday's exclusive sit-down interview over two days of the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong with Oprah Winfrey on TLC which led to a massive ratings spike as the viewership surged for the channel.

Oprah Winfrey is putting the TLC channel (DStv 172 / TopTV 453) on the TV map in South Africa like nothing else before in its two year history in the country and got hundreds of thousands of local pay-TV subscribers to click to the channel in unison with their remote controls this past Friday and Saturday in South Africa as well as across the Africa continent.

ALSO READ: TLC for TLC: How Discovery's reshaping of TLC in South Africa with compelling content is lifting its profile - and luring viewers.

Although combined viewership figures for the rest of Africa and other African countries and territories where TLC is shown on pay-TV line-ups are not available, the TV exclusive of Oprah's Next Chapter which Discovery Networks International (DNI) secured, clearly paid-off big time in luring viewers across the continent to tune in and keeping them spellbound with the cyclist's televised admission of doping.

 The talk show queen's interview with Lance Armstrong this past Thursday and Friday lured a massive combined TV audience in excess of 342 275 viewers aged 15 and older in South Africa on MultiChoice's DStv platform alone, according to viewership figures from The South African Audience Research Foundation (Saarf). Saarf measures and compiles TV ratings in South Africa.

The Lance Armstrong confession on Oprah's Next Chapter drew a massive 220 405 viewers aged 15 and older (the currency of viewers who matter most to advertisers in South Africa) on Friday 18 January to TLC for part one of the interview. "On average 0.7% of adults aged 15+ who watched television on 18 January watched the Oprah and Lance Armstrong TV exclusive on TLC," says Saarf.

According to Saarf data, part two of the Lance Armstrong interview pulled in 121 870 viewers on TLC on Saturday 19 January in the 19:30 timeslot in South Africa. It more than doubled the viewership from the 55 981 viewers who watched the repeat episode of part one on Saturday just before part two began.

It's interesting to note that the 220 405 viewers of the first part of the two-parter interview (and the combined 342 275) is much higher than the 200 000 viewers aged 15 and older who watched the Oprah special in September 2012 - also exclusive to TLC.

The September special which took viewers inside her private school for girls at Henley-on-Klip was already a massive ratings-grabber for TLC in South Africa where the special was shown before it was broadcast in America.

Meanwhile DNI has scheduled the next American reality sensation, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo to start on TLC on 6 March at 21:10 which will in all likelihood lead to further ratings growth for the channel as curious viewers tune in.

(The estimated total viewership of the Oprah Lance Armstrong TV special is likely even higher in South Africa given that the viewership of the TLC channel on TopTV is not counted in, since TopTV's channels are not yet tracked and rated individually in this country. Several repeat slots of the episodes on TLC are also not factored into this total which would also make the viewership slightly higher.)

O MY! Utterly compelling Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah Winfrey on TLC makes for absolutely riveting television.

Part one of Oprah Winfrey's grilling interview with the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in Oprah's Next Chapter on TLC (DStv 172 / TLC 453) will continue with part two tomorrow evening (Saturday 19 January) at 19:30 (South African time) and it looks like it might even be more compelling, must-see television than tonight's first part.

At the end of the first part this evening the teaser on TLC teased Oprah Winfrey asking questions of Lance Armstrong about how his children feel about having defended as cheating dad, what he said to his Livestrong Foundation, what his mother thinks of her cheating son, and why he decided to come forward and do this interview with Oprah Winfrey now.

The episode of Oprah's Next Chapter on TLC which Discovery Networks International (DNI) grabbed for the channel made for absolutely riveting television: Lance Armstrong squirming as if he doesn't know exactly how to answer and Oprah Winfrey asking very direct, very straight-forward fact-based questions.

What revelations, questions and answers might the second hour of this worldwide interview and the year's first must-see piece of television hold?

The first hour and a half was astounding and both Oprah Winfrey and Lance Armstrong made (television) history. Saturday's second half on TLC will most likely be more of the same.

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey's Lance Armstrong interview will have both of the episodes shown in South Africa on TLC on Friday and Saturday.

South African viewers will now also see both of the two episodes of the expanded interview of Oprah Winfrey with the disgraced Lance Armstrong on Oprah's Next Chapter which will be broadcast in South Africa on Friday 18 January at 19:30 and the newly added part two on Saturday 19 January at 19:30 on TLC (DStv 172 / TopTV 453).

Discovery Networks International which runs the TLC channel in South Africa on MultiChoice's DStv and on On Digital Media's TopTV just confirmed to me what I've reported on Tuesday - that the interview which lasted two and a half hours is being expanded to two episodes which will mean an adjustment for the TLC schedule in South Africa as well.

"Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive has expanded to air as a two-night event on TLC, giving South African viewers the opportunity to hear even more from the former cycling champion. The special two-part episode of Oprah's Next Chapter will air in South Africa on Friday 18 January at 19:30 and on Saturday 19 January at 19:30 on TLC," says Discovery.

Oprah Winfrey explained on Tuesday that she's "not going to cut down the two and a half hours. As a matter of fact we have decided, literally on the plane last night on the way back, that we are actually going to go for two nights because it is impossible to cut 80 minutes out."

"As you all know, a 90 minute interview on television is really only 65 minutes. So we felt that to leave over half of this on the cutting room floor after millions of people have been waiting for years for many of these answers, would not be the right thing to do," said Oprah Winfrey.

'How I got the interview': Oprah Winfrey reveals how she snagged the highly-anticipated interview with Lance Armstrong.

George Burns/OWN

Oprah Winfrey just revealed how she got the highly-anticipated and highly sought-after interview with the disgraced cyclist and drug cheat Lance Armstrong which South African viewers will also be able to see on TLC (DStv 172 / TopTV 453) on Friday 18 January at 19:30 (South African time) as part of her new talk show Oprah's Next Chapter.

Oprah Winfrey calls it "the biggest interview I've ever done" and revealed that she in fact snagged the Lance Armstrong interview at the end of last year during the December holiday while she was vacationing at her home in Hawaii and while some of the girls from her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa was visiting and actually staying with her.

South Africans who can't wait for Friday evening to see Oprah's Next Chapter will also be able to watch the first of what is now going to be a two-part episode online at oprah.com at 04:00 in the morning (South African time) on Friday 18 January when it will be streamed online simultaneously as it is being shown on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network in America. 

Part two, a brand-new additional episode, will be streamed on Saturday 19 January also at 04:00 (South African time). Oprah Winfrey decided on Tuesday to expand her interview with Lance Armstrong to two episodes on television following a marathon interview recording session on Monday at Lance Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas which lasted more than two and a half hours. 

George Burns/OWN

Discovery Networks International (DNI) has not yet indicated how today's decision regarding the expansion to two episodes for Lance Armstrong of Oprah's Next Chapter will now impact TLC's programming schedule further for South Africa beyond Friday evening's first installment, but it is highly likely that the schedule will be updated to also accommodate the second episode.

I just watched CBS This Morning, one of America's morning shows, on which Oprah Winfrey appeared Tuesday morning to discuss the upcoming interview. She explained how it came about that she got the interview multiple media outlets have been pursuing the past few months.

"How I got the interview? I had sent him an email a couple of months ago, just hoping that he would talk to me," Oprah Winfrey explained. "He emailed back and said he wasn't ready to talk but that he would be in Hawaii for the holidays and he knew that I had a place in Hawaii and maybe we could get together for lunch. 'Okay, like that's going to happen,' I thought," she said.

"So, during the holidays I emailed and said 'What about that lunch?' He said he can't do it on these days, because he had his kids. Meanwhile I had a bunch of my kids - girls from my school in South Africa with me. So I stayed over an extra two days in order to accommodate his schedule."

"He came to visit me in Maui. He lives on another island, and so he flew over. I had guests in the house so I cleared out the house and said 'Go to the beach, go to the beach, now! And stay there for at least four hours!' "

"So I had nobody in the house, including people who are usually there for help and even the people who usually do the lawn. I removed all those people. Also I had a person go to the airport to pick him up who doesn't normally pick me up at the airport so that he wouldn't be recognised as being connected to me," said Oprah Winfrey.

"Lance comes to me and says, 'Where is everybody?' and I say "I've sent everybody away' and he goes: 'But you didn't clear the road. There was a biker on the road who recognised me."

Biggest interview

"In terms of my career it's certainly the biggest interview I've done in terms of its exposure," said Oprah Winfrey. "Of course back in 1993 I did Michael Jackson Live Around the World, this is going to be live streamed around the world."

"Because it's going to be around the world - and I believe it should be around the world because so many people want to hear what he has to say - the number of people who will have exposure to it makes it the biggest interview I've ever done," said Oprah Winfrey.

"I would say that for all the people who are wondering does he actually go there and answers, I think that you will come to understand that he brought it. He really did."

Oprah Winfrey expands the upcoming 90 minute interview with Lance Armstrong to two episodes.

George Burns/OWN

Oprah Winfrey's highly-anticipated 90 minute interview with the disgraced cyclist and drug cheat Lance Armstrong in which he admits to doping, is expanding to two episodes after Oprah Winfrey's interview which was recorded yesterday at Lance Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas, ran over two and a half hours long.

Discovery Networks International issued me this image taken during the interview which was conducted on Monday and which will be shown on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network as part of her new talk show Oprah's Next Chapter.

South African viewers will be able to watch the cheating Lance Armstrong's interview online at oprah.com with what will now be part one (90 minutes) on Friday 18 January streamed live at 04:00 in the morning (South African time) at the same time as the first episode goes out in America, followed by part two on Saturday 19 January at 04:00 in the morning (South African time).

South African viewers will also be able to tune in to TLC (DStv 172 / TopTV 453) on Friday 18 January at 19:30 (South African time) to watch the Lance Armstrong interview on Oprah's Next Chapter on television for 90 minutes. There is now word yet from TLC on whether part two will be shown in South Africa on Saturday 19 January at 19:30.

I just watched Oprah Winfrey's interview on America's morning show CBS This Morning on which Oprah Winfrey today discussed the upcoming Lance Armstrong interview. She revealed that the interview is being extended to two episodes due to the length of the interview.

"I'm not going to cut down the two and a half hours," said Oprah Winfrey. "As a matter of fact we have decided, literally on the plane last night on the way back, that we are actually going to go for two nights because it is impossible to cut 80 minutes out."

"As you all know, a 90 minute interview on television is really only 65 minutes. So we felt that to leave over half of this on the cutting room floor after millions of people have been waiting for years for many of these answers, would not be the right thing to do," said Oprah Winfrey.

I asked today whether this means two episodes - a part one and a part two - of Oprah's Next Chapter for South African viewers on TLC, but have not yet received a response. OWN has already confirmed that there will now be two simultaneous live streaming events over two consecutive days.

The latest adjusted TLC programme schedule for South Africa currently only indicates the one (first) 90 minute interview special and it's several repeats, although the addition of the "first" episode to the schedule was only made today. It's highly likely that the second episode which Oprah Winfrey only decided to extend the interview to today, will be officially added to the TLC schedule on Wednesday.

BREAKING. Oprah Winfrey's Lance Armstrong interview on OWN to be streamed at the same time on oprah.com

There's good news for South African viewers who will not be able to watch Oprah Winfrey's upcoming interview on 17 January with the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong on her new weekly talk show Oprah's Next Chapter on her OWN network on television - they'll be able to watch it in real-time on the internet.

While no South African broadcasters have yet secured the broadcasting rights to Oprah's Next Chapter which can also not be seen on any of the third party TV channels on MultiChoice's DStv or On Digital Media's TopTV pay-TV platforms in the country, OWN is announcing that the Lance Armstrong interview will be streamed live at the same time as it is being televised, online at oprah.com.

The fallen cyclist will address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating, and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his cycling career. Lance Armstrong is now widely expected to make some sort of admission to Oprah Winfrey that he's cheated in the special 90 minute interview.

The interview will be shown on OWN on Thursday 17 January from 21:00 until 22:30 in America, making it 04:00 in the morning South African time on Friday 18 January that South Africans would be able to log onto www.oprah.com to watch the Lance Armstrong interview.

"The interview will be simultaneously streamed live worldwide on oprah.com," says OWN. "Oprah Winfrey speaks with Lance Armstrong at his home in Austin, Texas in the only interview since the seven-time Tour de France winner was stripped of his titles and dropped from millions of dollars in endorsement deals."

TOLDJA! TLC just updated its November schedule to add Oprah's Next Chapter with Justin Bieber for 26 November at 22:00.

I was first to tell South Africa and break the news last month that Oprah Winfrey is returning to South African television and exactly as I've said, it just got confirmed: TLC (DStv 172 / TopTV 453) just amended the November schedule for 26 November to reflect that Oprah's Next Chapter will now be on that Monday night at 22:00 (South African time).

Oprah Winfrey will be interviewing popstar Justin Bieber and TLC just updated the schedule to reflect that What Not to Wear is out and that Oprah's Next Chapter - South Africa's first glimpse of her new weekly talk show - is in.

South Africa will get to see the episode on DStv and TopTV just one day after it is broadcast in America on Sunday 25 November. Europe will only get to see it two days later on 27 November.

While Oprah Winfrey's new talk show with high-calibre guest "gets", is doing incredibly well on OWN in America, yet no South African broadcaster have tried to secure it.

If M-Net, SABC3, Top One, TLC or any of a range of possible contenders get it, it will surely not only lift viewership in its timeslot it will give the channel big bragging rights. But what do I know. I don't work in foreign programming acquisition.

BREAKING. Oprah's new talk show coming to South Africa on 26 Nov as Oprah's Next Chapter goes global with Justin Bieber special interview.

You're reading it here first. 

Oprah Winfrey's new and very successful weekly talk show in America, Oprah's Next Chapter, is coming to South Africa on 26 November as Oprah's Next Chapter is going global with an upcoming episode in which Oprah Winfrey is interviewing popstar Justin Bieber and which will be shown in 100 countries around the world on TLC (TopTV 453 / DStv 172).

South African TV viewers' first glimpse of Oprah Winfrey's new talk show will happen on 26 November.

It comes on the heels of last month's Oprah Winfrey special TV documentary going inside her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls which was broadcast on TLC in South Africa before it was shown on her OWN TV channel in the United States.

South African viewers will see the episode of Oprah's Next Chapter on Monday 26 November on TLC on DStv and TopTV, just one day after it is broadcast in America on Sunday 25 November. Europe will see it on 27 November.

While Oprah Winfrey's new talk show is doing incredibly well on OWN in America, neither SABC3, M-Net, Top One, TLC or any other broadcaster in South Africa so far tried to get and show it for viewers.

In June the Associated Press asked who is filling Oprah Winfrey's shoes and getting all the big must-see "gets'" now that she's ended her daytime talk show? The answer was .. Oprah.

From the Kasdashians, to 50 Cent, from Michael Jackson's daughter Paris to Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina, and a broad range of celebrities, it is still Oprah Winfrey who snags the biggest exclusives and sit-down interviews first in addition to running her TV channel.

Now South African viewers will be exposed to Oprah's Next Chapter, although just one hour long episode for now, which will be seen in 100 countries around the world.

Discovery as a co-owner in Oprah Winfrey's OWN, is going to show the 25 November American episode of Oprah's Next Chapter in 100 countries around the world with Discovery Networks International using its TLC channel to show the episode.

For the episode Oprah Winfrey attended Justin Bieber's concert at All-State Arena in Rosemont, Illinois last night before chatting to him at the RL Restaurant in Chicago.

Justin Bieber talks about the pitfalls of fame and living in the spotlight after they go shopping at the Ralph Lauren store in Chicago. Justin Bieber then surprises thousands of curious onlookers with an impromptu acoustic performance.