• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 2, 2009

Oprah Winfrey's eponymous network, now set for a 2010 launch, is offering would-be viewers the opportunity to create the channel's logo. The Discovery Communications outlet launched MyOwn.com on Thursday, where aspiring designers can give it a go.

The OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network channel will take over the distribution occupied by the Discovery Health Channel. Discovery Communications made a similar move last year when it turned Discovery Home into Planet Green, a network built around the environment.

Winfrey, whose company Harpo Productions is a 50/50 partner with Discovery in OWN, highlighted one show in development as a favorite: "Master Class." (The partnership was engineered by Discovery CEO David Zaslav and also includes Oprah.com.)

Details are sketchy, but "Master Class" is described as a venue for Winfrey to select "extraordinary people" with impressive "creativity" and "fortitude" to share their achievements and stories. It is placed under a programming genre tabbed as "best life inspiration."

Discovery released some details about OWN during its upfront presentation in New York. While the network won't launch until next year, at least some of its inventory will be for sale this spring.

Also on tap for OWN in the "inspiration" vein is "Surfer's Healing," which will zero in on ex-competitive surfer Izzy Paskowitz, his wife and their three children, one of whom is autistic, and the surf school they run.

A coming program is a one-hour, Chicago-based talk show with sex therapist and relationship expert Dr. Laura Berman. Also, "Excellent Adventure" is a series on tap where a celebrity and best friend go on an adventure they have dreamed of taking together.

Discovery also said OWN will have some acquired programming, including movies.

In addition to the much-anticipated OWN, Discovery's upfront presentation offered a rundown of the company's full portfolio, where many networks have seen notable ratings increases.

By one measure, the flagship network has seen adult 18-to-49 ratings up 8% this season. A slew of specials are set for next season, including "Stephen Hawking's Universe," "Life," with multiple episodes focusing on the planet's 10 "most important" wildlife groups, and "Treasure Quest," about expeditions to find valuable remains from centuries-old shipwrecks.

"Deadliest Catch," "Dirty Jobs" and "Mythbusters" are returning.

TLC -- where by one measure, adult 18-to-49 ratings are up 1% this season -- has new series on tap that include "The Little Couple" and "Table for 12." The first follows newlyweds who are both under 4 feet tall, while the second chronicles the lives of parents who have two sets of twins, as well as sextuplets.

There is also "The Police Women's Project" (working title) about five women in a Florida sheriff's department. Plus, TLC has landed rights to a documentary about Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a US Airways flight in New York's Hudson River; it will air Jan. 15.

"Jon & Kate Plus 8" and "Little People, Big World" are among the series that will be coming back.

Finally, new series on Animal Planet -- where 18-to-49 ratings are up 14% -- include "Cowboys," which follows family ranchers through the difficult process of raising cattle from calving to auction, and "Fetch Me A Beer," where a well-known YouTube personality, Zak George, teaches pets to perform impressive tricks.