Today, it was announced that Oprah Winfrey will form an exclusive partnership with her good friend Tyler perry. The award winning actor and producer and the queen of media have made an agreement in which OWN will become his only destination for any new series and projects going forward. Already in the pipelines, Perry is working on two new scripted series for OWN that are expected to premiere in mid 2013. Both series will have Perry as their writer and executive producer and he will also direct them.
After a very challenging and uphill climb since its debut, OWN is now seeing steady growth and momentum. The network has seen double-digit increases in ratings for the last three quarters across both primetime and daytime and even tripled its ratings growth in September.
Perry has also been enjoying much success with three different television series, “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” “Meet the Browns” and the new “For Better or Worse” . All three of the Tyler Perry comedies have enjoyed record-breaking ratings.
Winfrey, who is the CEO of OWN said,
“I have been looking forward to the day when we would be in the position to enter the world of scripted television. That day has come. We are all energized by the opportunity to collaborate with Tyler who has a proven track record for producing highly successful cable series. He has an incredible ability to illuminate life stories and characters in his unique voice and inspires and encourages people all over the world.”
Perry is just as pleased to partner with his friend, Oprah, saying ,
“It’s a dream realized to partner with Oprah and bring scripted programming to OWN. She has accomplished so much with the network and I’m excited to work with her to be a part of its continued growth.”
David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications, also threw in a few words saying,
“Bringing Tyler Perry exclusively to OWN is a major coup. Today’s announcement demonstrates the power of the Oprah brand to attract some of the biggest names in television and film to OWN. OWN’s growth over the past nine months has been nothing short of phenomenal and, with the continued support of our advertising and affiliate partners, this bold move into scripted entertainment positions OWN to continue that momentum going forward.”
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