As expected, OWN, the new Oprah Winfrey cable network, launched with modest ratings over the weekend.
Preliminary Nielsen numbers show that during prime time of its first day of operation -- Saturday, Jan. 1 -- the network pulled in 1 million viewers on average between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. By way of comparison, some 20 cable networks get an average of 1 million or more viewers during prime time.
But in some of its key targeted viewer demographics -- older women -- the network did fairly well, earning a 0.93 rating among women 25-54 during prime time, placing it fourth among all cable networks. During just the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. time period, it was only behind ESPN and USA Network.
Its best-rated program on that first day was a clip show from Oprah Winfrey's syndicated program this past season. Called "Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes," episode 102, the show pulled in 1.2 million viewers and a 1.1 rating among women 25-54.
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The next day -- Sunday, January 2 -- OWN pulled in an average of 822,000 viewers and a 0.64 rating among women 25-54. The network said this put OWN into 14th place overall in prime time. On that day, "Ask Oprah's All Stars" earned a 0.79 rating among women 25-54, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and 970,000 viewers overall. The older women ratings placed it 9th among all cable shows.
OWN early ratings should be looked at with a few considerations -- primarily, it is in only some 67% of all U.S. TV homes so far, much less than many other mature and established cable networks.
Cable network OWN is a joint venture of Discovery Communications and Winfrey's company, Harpo Studios. Its previous incarnation was as the Discovery Health network.