Discovery Communications just purchased 75% of the Oprah Winfrey Network for $70 million. Oprah will maintain her position as the chief executive of the six-year-old brand. Winfrey's Harpo Inc. will continue to have 'significant minority interest' and will stay with OWN through 2025.
“Creating OWN and seeing it flourish, supported by Discovery and a rapidly growing group of the finest storytellers in film and television, is one of my proudest achievements,” Oprah said in a statement.
Launched in 2011, OWN had some early stumbles but their original programming, helmed by powerhouses Tyler Perry and Ava DuVernay helped to boost viewership and ratings. This new deal for Discover and OWN will continue the focus on female driven content.
Discovery had been 50/50 partners with Winfrey since she formed the network in 2008.
Read more at Variety