Free Republic

Oprah Winfrey’s struggling television network, OWN, said Monday it is laying off one-fifth of its workers and restructuring its operations in New York and Los Angeles. The decision to let 30 employees go is a “tough” one, but the economics of a start-up cable network didn’t fit with OWN’s cost structure, Winfrey said in a statement. “As CEO, I have a responsibility to chart the course for long-term success for the network. To wholly achieve that long-term success, this was a necessary next step,” Winfrey said.

Seems like the Oprah Winfrey Network just can't catch a break: after Friday's announcement that The Rosie Show wouldn't be coming back to the network after a low-rated first season, OWN is restructuring. Thirty staffers are being laid off, with their duties redistributed throughout the the network and the two partners in the joint venture cabler—Discovery Communications and Oprah's own Harpo Studios.

O don’t know cable. Talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey is losing money, viewers, executives — and even her best friend, Gayle King, who bolted this week — in her battle to make OWN Network a relevant programming destination. Winfrey intended to “enlighten” and “inspire” her loyal fan base when transitioning from network TV to cable, but all she’s done is alienate herself, posing as a philosopher rather than a journalist.

Discovery Communications Inc. Chief Operating Officer Peter Liguori is leaving the cable programming giant at the end of December after just two years on the job. His departure comes at a key time for the company, as its high-profile ventures OWN and the Hub are struggling to establish themselves and its core networks Discovery and TLC face increasing competition from rival cable channels.

<p>President Obama made that point well last night. After a flight from Washington to Chicago, where he was greeted at O'Hare Airport by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn among others, the President took a traffic-avoiding helicopter ride to a landing zone at Soldier Field home of the Chicago Bears and then a motorcade ride to his own home in Chicago's South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park.</p>

Why the Double O's are standing on shaky ground.