The Oprah Winfrey Network Unveils Original Programming Lineup For Jan. 1 Launch

Oprah Winfrey, chairman of OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK, today announces new original programming for the channel's January 1, 2011 launch to members of the advertising and media communities at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center. Five new series are joining the 10 previously announced, for a total of 15 original series coming to OWN.

"My vision for OWN is to create a network that inspires our viewers and makes them want to be who they are on their best day," said Ms. Winfrey.

"We want to provide our audience with the tools to awaken, become more alive, and connect to what really matters to them in a fun, engaging, and entertaining way," said Christina Norman, chief executive officer, OWN.

The five new series being announced today are OPRAH'S NEXT CHAPTER, VISIONARIES: INSIDE THE CREATIVE MIND, YOUR OWN SHOW: OPRAH'S SEARCH FOR THE NEXT TV STAR, GAYLE KING LIVE! and WHY NOT? WITH SHANIA TWAIN.

After 25 years and 28,000 guests, Oprah is saying goodbye to "The Oprah Winfrey Show," but NOT goodbye to what she loves to do. In OPRAH'S NEXT CHAPTER, she'll have more riveting conversations with the people we all want to hear from, in some very unexpected places. Oprah's getting untethered from the chairs, opening up her world and taking you with her. From the Taj Mahal to her beloved oak tree, the Great Wall to her own teahouse, it's a whole new kind of Oprah show. If she can dream it, she'll do it! This one-hour regular series is produced by Harpo Studios.

In the new series VISIONARIES: INSIDE THE CREATIVE MIND, the world's top talent will take viewers inside their creative process, offering a rare opportunity to see how true masterminds bring their art to life. Academy Award(R)-winning director James Cameron; Grammy Award-winning musician, artist, entrepreneur and pop culture icon Lady Gaga; internationally renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, whose arresting work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Vogue; Tom Ford, the fashion designer who breathed new energy into Gucci and is now enjoying newfound success as the director of the Academy Award-nominated film A Single Man; and will.i.am, founding member of The Black Eyed Peas, Emmy(R)-winning actor, entrepreneur and seven-time Grammy Award-winning artist, will all appear in this new one-hour weekly series. Radical Media will produce.

Oprah has brought you some of daytime's biggest stars: Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Dr. Oz, and will this fall with Nate Berkus. Now, it's your turn. Do you have what it takes to have your own show? Oprah and the most successful reality producer in television, Mark Burnett, are joining forces on a nationwide search to discover television's next big star in YOUR OWN SHOW: OPRAH'S SEARCH FOR THE NEXT TV STAR (working title). Oprah will announce all the details on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in May, and the search will begin. The series will be produced by Burnett's production company.

Start your day with Oprah's best friend and O, The Oprah Magazine's Editor-at-Large, Gayle King. Her hit radio show will come to OWN live daily in GAYLE KING LIVE! The people you want to talk to, the people you want to talk about, and everywhere you want to be will all be wrapped up in Gayle's trademark no-nonsense style. This is a one-hour series.

By the age of 17, she had survived a childhood of poverty and the loss of both her parents in a devastating accident, but Shania Twain still went on to become the best-selling female artist in country music history. Then at the height of superstardom, she was blindsided by a double betrayal shattering her 14-year marriage. Now in WHY NOT? WITH SHANIA TWAIN, Shania opens up about her life-altering heartbreak and how she's moving on. Follow her as she begins her climb back to the top, a personal journey filled with risk, revelations and unexpected adventures. The one-hour series will be produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions with Gay Rosenthal executive producing.

These new series join the previously announced slate (all titles working titles):

BEHIND THE SCENES: THE OPRAH SHOW FINAL SEASON is a revealing new docu-series taking viewers for the first time ever behind the scenes of the final season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Oprah will introduce you to the Harpo family, the people she works with side by side every day. Viewers will be right there, watching what it takes to put a magical hour with Oprah Winfrey on the air. Be there as "The Oprah Winfrey Show" sunsets into television history. The series is co-produced by Harpo Studios and Radical Media.

BREAKING DOWN THE BARS is not like any prison show you've ever seen. We're going to a new level, where there is a shot at rehabilitation and atonement. Inside the prison walls, can these women find the strength to confront their crimes and find redemption? The one-hour format is produced by 44 Blue Productions.

In ENOUGH ALREADY (formerly THE PETER WALSH PROJECT), Peter Walsh continues in his quest to help people declutter their lives. As Mr. Walsh says, "Start with the vision you have for the life you want and you have taken the first real step to long-term and remarkable change." The one-hour format is produced by Discovery Studios.

Laura Berman, sex therapist, relationship expert, best-selling author and Sirius XM radio show host, wants you to have great sex. She's getting out from behind her desk with IN THE BEDROOM WITH DR. LAURA BERMAN to help real couples with their relationships. The one-hour format is produced by Harpo Studios.

Go INSIDE WITH LISA LING and meet people and hear stories from places you can only imagine. From mail-order brides to American militias, Ms. Ling goes places most people wouldn't dare to go. The one-hour format is produced by Part2 Pictures.

We are at a time of the most advanced technology ever, yet we are more disconnected than ever - from our families, our communities and even ourselves. In KIDNAPPED BY THE KIDS, parents get a much-needed wake-up call when their kids take drastic steps to reclaim Mom and Dad. The one-hour format is produced by Love Productions.

Part of seeing what's possible is seeing the impossible. THE MIRACLE DETECTIVES explores amazing events that couldn't possibly have happened. Or could they? The new series dives deep into the possibilities, with one believer and one skeptic in need of proof. The one-hour format is produced by Pilgrim Film & Television.

In OPRAH PRESENTS: MASTER CLASS (working title), Oprah has handpicked some of the most intriguing people of our time to share their stories, insights, and lives. Pull up a chair for this one-of-a-kind class with JAY-Z, Bono, Simon Cowell, Lorne Michaels, Toni Morrison and Condoleezza Rice. The one-hour format is produced by Radical Media.

THE SWELL LIFE takes a look inside the lives of former competitive surfer Izzy Paskowitz, his wife Danielle, their three children -- one of whom is autistic -- and their surf school business. We will watch their highs and lows, as they manage a business and a foundation for autistic children. The half-hour format is produced by Snackaholic.

Renowned search specialist and genealogist Pam Slaton is the person you turn to when you need to complete your "life story." In SEARCHING, Pam, a mother of two and an adoptee herself, sets out to help those in need of closure. Some will be looking for a long-lost love, others a former enemy to seek forgiveness. Whether separated by adoption, tragedy or simple chance, this series will follow each emotional journey to the end. The one-hour format is produced by Stuart Krasnow Productions.

About OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

A joint venture between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is a multiplatform media company designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives. OWN will debut in January 1, 2011 in approximately 80 million homes, on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel. The venture also will include the award-winning digital platform Oprah.com. For more information, please visit www.oprah.com/own.

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