The 2011 Winter TCA press tour may have been a tough crowd for Oprah Winfrey today as she shared the vision and focus of the new OWN network on Thursday, but she should hardly worry. The room was crowded. The writers eyeballs perhaps a bit piercing. All had intent to determine the flow of the new OWN Network.
Perhaps we should point out that OWN Network is well on its way to success. The audience already decided they like OWN Network and it took only a remote to decide. Not even a special meeting in Pasadena was necessary as the fans have weighed in.
Oprah Winfrey looked comfortable in the chair and definitely handled the intensity of the questions well, but the connection of television critics to review a venture of the ‘Queen of Talk shows’ is overrated. In fact the idea that a group of television professionals can be critical of an entire network is overrated as well. Frankly, the fans of OWN have chosen and they love the idea of the network.
Every person we know has been raving for the last six days about OWN Network. They are watching it. They love it. And these folks don’t write columns, are not critics plus they don’t require special viewing glasses. They are the OWN audience.
Will it matter what is written about the OWN Network or what critics decide? Not hardly. Oprah’s direct connection with fans is a highway with little detour. It is the age of new unique ventures that brings technology in a whole new setting. Embrace a new way of thinking our judgmental TV critics and pick the remote. Hurry, the audience won't wait for you.
Take a minute to check out Oprah Winfrey at the Winter TCA tour in the photo show.
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