OWN

Your OWN Show Reality Series
Poll

Oprah Winfrey Network: Nice Enough to Work?

I watched the Oprah Winfrey Network for the first time yesterday and saw an episode of a reality series, Your OWN Show, in which the winner gets his or her own show on the network.
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I watched the Oprah Winfrey Network for the first time yesterday and saw an episode of a reality series, Your OWN Show, in which the winner gets his or her own show on the network. Now, I knew the network is all about positivity, but reality TV generally brings out the worst in people. However, there was none of that on Your Own Show. I saw healthy competition in place of vicious rivalry, and acknowledgments of defeat instead of bitter revenge. And you know the most controversial characters that people love to hate on these types of shows? Well, once Leigh Koechner showed some signs of being an unpleasant team player on OWN, she ended up being the contestant who was booted off first. This compares to other reality shows in which unpopular characters stay on because they give the show good ratings.

I had mentioned earlier that being nice is one of the keys of getting ahead in your career, and perhaps it's a good model for companies to follow as well. What do you think — does the "nice" model work?

Do You Rent or Own Your Home?
Poll

Do You Rent or Own Your Home?

It's been about three years since I asked you all if you rent or own, and at that point, the renters were in the lead at 52 percent.
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It's been about three years since I asked you all if you rent or own, and at that point, the renters were in the lead at 52 percent. Considering that since then I have moved twice, and I'm sure many you have had plenty of life changes too, I figure it's about time to pose the question to you again. So head to the polls: do you rent or own?

Cat Cora Developing TV Show With Oprah's OWN
News

Cat Cora to Join OWN With a New Cooking Show

Oprah Winfrey's on the hunt to find talk show hosts for her new cable network OWN — but she's already found one in celebrity chef Cat Cora.
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Oprah Winfrey's on the hunt to find talk show hosts for her new cable network OWN — but she's already found one in celebrity chef Cat Cora.

Yesterday brought news that the Iron Chef is developing a show where she will travel the country, offering nutritional, cooking, and healthy living advice to families in need of a lifestyle overhaul. Shed Media, of Real Housewives of New York City fame, will produce.

Chef Cora's new program won't air until at least January 2011, when the network is set to replace the Discovery Health Channel. It will follow the network's mission to "connecting you to your best self and the world," which seems slightly reminiscent of her former role in Food Network's Kitchen Accomplished.

It'll be nice to see a softer side of Cora, after years of seeing her exhibit nothing but fierce Iron-clad determination to win in Kitchen Stadium. Does this sound like a show you'd watch?

Oprah Gets Her Own TV Network
TV

Oprah Gets Her Own TV Network

It was probably only a matter of time before Oprah Winfrey staked out a TV network of her very own, but now it's official: Oprah will launch her own cable channel, OWN, in mid-2009.
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It was probably only a matter of time before Oprah Winfrey staked out a TV network of her very own, but now it's official: Oprah will launch her own cable channel, OWN, in mid-2009. She issued a statement saying:

Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I
always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold. For me, the launch of The Oprah Winfrey Network is the evolution of the work I’ve been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show.

The channel will be part of Discovery's cable networks (which also include TLC and the Travel Channel) and will take over for the current Discovery Health network. It won't carry Oprah's talk show, at least at the start, because rights to new and repeat broadcasts are already spoken for through 2011. But the Associated Press reports that some of Oprah's regular contributors could find a home on OWN. Paging Dr. Phil!

Discovery says OWN — a pretty great acronym, if you ask me — will have the same mission statement as the rest of Oprah's ventures: inspiring people to live their best lives. So, do you think Oprah TV would be something you'd want to watch? Or is it all just a little too much?

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