Oprah’s OWN network set to target African-American Market similar to VH1

Almost one year after its launch, Oprah Winfrey‘s OWN Network hasn’t exactly blown up as expected. The former talk-show hosts’ channel has introduced various shows like Oprah Presents: Master Class, The Rosie Show, Oprah’s Life Class and her BFF’s show, The Gayle King Show, with some reality shows in the mix.
Interesting enough, one of the newest shows, Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s has been doing the best when it comes to television views. The highest number of people viewing the show in one night was 418,000, with an average viewership of 216,000. And because of this, the OWN network is looking to possibly cater their programming and advertising more to the network’s African-American followers similar to VH1, who broadcast popular shows such as Love & Hip Hop and Family Hustle starring T.I. & Tiny:

“Anytime you have a program that pops like Sweetie Pie’s did, you start looking at what drove it,” Logan tells Adweek. “And we saw that the African-American audience really had a connection with that show. . . . We’re going to look at ways to nurture and grow that.”
“We’re not going to sell out and just chase one demographic or segment,” he said. “We’re going to nurture the success we had with Sweetie Pies. . . . [But] it is our job to strike a balance. The Oprah brand is not niche. The Oprah brand is very broad. How we translate that to the screen is the challenge we have.”

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