Oprah Airs 'Oprah,' Discovery Ups OWN Funding

Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey has been allowing cameras to catch her with her hair down as she films a behind-the-scenes series about her final 25th season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The series is scheduled for the OWN network when it launches next year. 

But Discovery may have been looking for a bit more juice for the Oprah Winfrey Network; it reported in a government filing Friday that Winfrey will host or star in a show on OWN. In addition, it said it has agreed to up its funding commitment to $189 million from $100 million for the venture.

The additional funding, per the 8-K filing, will either be a revolving loan from Discovery and/or debt financing from a third-party lender to OWN.

Discovery is a 50-50 partner with Winfrey and her Harpo production company and that side may also have wanted Winfrey for high-profile programming. The network is slated to launch Jan. 1, 2011.

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Discovery Communications share price was down slightly in midday trading Friday to the $37.30 range.

Under a revised agreement between Discovery and Harpo, the network will begin to seek distribution in Canada and the United Kingdom

In addition to the behind-the-scenes show, Winfrey would be expected to appear on reality-competition series, "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search For The Next TV Star." She'll also headline "Oprah's Next Chapter" on OWN, where she leaves the studio and globe trots.

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