Rosie didn’t work; maybe Perry can.
Oprah Winfrey, looking to bolster her ratings-challenged OWN Network, pulled off a coup yesterday and signed Tyler Perry to an exclusive, multiyear deal.
The move will shift OWN into scripted shows for the first time — and steals Perry, a successful sitcom writer and producer and movie maker, away from Turner Broadcasting, where his “House of Payne,” “Meet the Browns” and “For Better or Worse” were ratings winners.
While terms of the deal were not disclosed, sources tell The Post that Perry — director of the popular “Madea” movies — is getting a small equity stake in the Discovery Communications-backed OWN.
“I have been looking forward to the day when we would be in the position to enter the world of scripted television,” Winfrey, the CEO of the fledgling network, said in a statement. “That day has come.”
Brad Adgate, top researcher at Horizon Media, said OWN’s addition of Perry “should attract younger viewers to the network. OWN has had a median age above 50.”
“The ratings expectation for OWN,” Adgate added, “is a lot lower than it is at Turner and should help bring the network new viewers.”
Perry, who has been a fixture at Turner since 2007, has a huge following among youngsters — and especially African-American viewers. He will debut two new series next year.
Turner gets to keep Perry’s existing shows.
Two of the writer-director’s shows got moved to Friday nights on Turner recently, one reason he may have been looking for an exit. TBS’ ratings rose 38 percent in the third quarter in total viewers and were up to 29.2 percent among 18-to-49-year-olds, according to Nielsen’s reporting through Sept. 16.
The director has his own studio operation based in Atlanta and is behind 14 films, three TV shows and 14 plays.
The partnership will no doubt lift OWN’s ratings with African-American viewers, who now make up 25 percent of OWN’s audience, say researchers. About 12 percent of the TV audience in the US population is African-American, they said.
“They want the young African-American female audience that WE-TV gets,” said one cable strategist. Rivals also include BET and VH-1.
OWN’s ratings, which got off to a terrible start, are up thanks to more aggressive bookings at her interview show, “Oprah’s Next Chapter.” Big ratings winners included sit-downs with Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina.
Earlier in its life, OWN aired “The Rosie Show,” starring Rosie O’Donnell — but gave it the ax in March after just five months due to disastrous ratings.
Oprah wasn’t the only one chasing Perry. Lionsgate Entertainment, which distributes Perry’s movies, was also looking to ink him to a deal, sources said.
In fact, Lionsgate was even willing to rename its TV Guide channel as Tyler TV to close the deal — but Perry turned it down.
That deal was said to be less lucrative in part because OWN commands around 20 cents per household while TV Guide charges distributors a lot less.
Lionsgate did not return calls for comment. Discovery had no comment on whether Perry received an equity stake in OWN.