Oprah Winfrey shared a personal dream in a statement about her creation of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. “Fifteen years ago I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold,” she said. The titan of self-help, inspiration and motivation plans on a multi-platform media enterprise. On the heels of establishing her YouTube channel, she’s bringing Oprah.com to the table where she’ll sit as head of programming, branding and creative vision. This move is part of a deal with Discovery Communications. That conglomerate will toss in the Discovery Health Channel. The health channel draws less than 20% of the total ratings of the 1.5 billion subscribers watching the Discovery Channel, TLC and other programs in that network.

David Zaslov, president and CEO of Discovery Communications, says Oprah has inspired him “personally.” Whatever the outcome, some consequences are assured. Oprah will give a needed boost to Discovery Health. Job and/or contract opportunities for those in marketing, advertising and content provider industries are sure to come. How the two brands will mesh remains to be seen, but with distribution in 70 million U.S. homes and a solid fan base already attached to Oprah.com, the evolution of what started as a dream penned in a journal should definitely be interesting. Will the new network find unique content to draw fans in a market that is already glutted? How many weight-loss strategies can a market hold? Stay tuned. Literally.

(Photo of Oprah and David Zaslav by George Burns, from press room at Oprah.com)

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