• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 29, 2009

The eagerly anticipated Oprah Winfrey Network will be led by former top MTV Networks executive Christina Norman. The executive takes over as CEO of what will be the 70-million-home OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. Previously, she spent three-plus years as president of MTV before vacating the post a year ago.

The network originally was aiming for a spring 2009 launch, but the timetable has been delayed until late this year or even 2010. OWN is a joint venture between Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications; it also includes Oprah.com. It has its own board of directors, to which Norman will report.

She joins the network Feb. 17 at its Los Angeles base. The network--which will take over the distribution of Discovery Health Channel--had previously named Robin Schwartz as president.

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications, applauded Norman's record of "creating contemporary and valuable media brands."

Norman is a 17-year veteran of MTVN, a span that included a top marketing role and heading VH1.