• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 10, 2011

Some TV stations are complaining that the Oprah Winfrey syndicated show has become too much of a promotional vehicle for the new Oprah Winfrey cable network, OWN -- especially in some recently broadcast "Winfrey" episodes.

TV promotional conflicts? This isn't 1987. Tons of TV stuff gets cross-promoted these days. Viewers have many choices. Still, some stations are apparently upset and are demanding make-goods of sort in the form of additional Winfrey episodes, according to Deadline.com.

TV stations and cable have always had a testy relationship. But they should be better TV partners, especially in this new age of retransmission revenue-deals that been lucrative for TV stations.

Cable networks already let competing cable networks cross-promote their content. But broadcast stations and networks are well behind in this area.

Even if there was no mention of the new cable network on Winfrey's syndicated show, the mere presence of Winfrey as a marketing identity may have given those stations grief -- as well as the overall fact her departure from broadcast airwaves will surely hurt ratings.

Some might say TV stations are just greedy. Many Winfrey syndication affiliates have benefited strongly from having her show on their stations -- not the least of which is the "Oprah" effect, over two decades, of boosting early evening news with a strong lead-in.

Stations may be pissed -- but actually early results have been ho-hum for OWN. The first days of OWN posted decent one million plus viewers in prime time, but those numbers have dropped substantially -- by around two-thirds on some days.

Why? Many say there is little of Oprah on the network itself. Where can you still find her? On broadcast TV, every weekday, until September.