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Rest assured, Ms. Winfrey has (relatively) little of her own money invested in this project. Most of the cash is coming from the Discovery Networks, which is sinking a boatload into the Oprah Channel. Typical lib—do it with someone else’s money.

I will say this: starting the network was a shrewd move, even if she made it about a decade too late. Ratings for her over-the-air talk show have been sinking for a decade, and shows like “Judge Judy” routinely beat Oprah in the ratings. Against that reality, there was no way that her syndicator (and the local Oprah affiliates) were going to give her another deal for the kind of money she’s been pulling in. So, go raid the cable cookie jar and keep cashing their checks as long as you can.

My prediction (as a recovering broadcaster): OWN limps along for five years or so and burns through tons of money, without making much of a dent in the cable ratings. At that point, Ms. Winfrey will announce her retirement and OWN will be repackaged as something else—about six months after Oprah leaves the airwaves.

Discovery made its mark as an outlet for interesting (but low-cost) documentaries and reality series. OWN is something entirely different for them, and it’s almost guaranteed to fail. The Oprah brand has lost its luster. The question is how much money Discovery is willing to lose on the venture before pulling the plug.

One more thing: the broadcast stations that aired Oprah will actually be better off (in most cases) without her. Some have already signed up for cheaper syndicated shows, or plan to replace her with local newscasts. Those going to local route can actually make more money, because they won’t be paying astronomical program fees and if they air their own product, they can keep all of the advertising revenue.