OWN Shifting Attention to Its African-American Viewers

Executives at OWN think they may have found a way to salvage Oprah Winfrey’s struggling network: By catering more to an African-American audience. That may help ratings, but it would mean a dramatic shift, and one that could put the channel at odds with Winfrey’s own brand.

According to OWN president Erik Logan and Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav, the silver lining in an otherwise bleak performance record for the network since its launch last January is that it’s performing particularly well among its African-Americans audience members—especially with a reality show calledSweetie Pies that premiered in October.