Oprah Winfrey, the queen of daytime TV, is extending her rule to Madison Avenue.
OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, the talk show host’s namesake cable channel, which is set to debut Jan. 1, is close to finalizing a sizable ad deal with General Motors, sources tell The Post.
The deal, if closed, would mark the third major sponsorship agreement for OWN, following notable deals with Procter & Gamble and Kohl’s.
Although OWN is talking to other car companies about advertising on the network, the two-year deal with GM will give it exclusivity in the automotive category for some programs, sources said. An OWN spokeswoman declined to comment.
Discovery Communications and Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, the network’s backers, have been aiming to sign a handful of big advertisers to multiyear, multimillion dollar deals before the channel debuts. With these deals in hand, OWN is now more than halfway toward meeting its advertising goal — more than six months before it goes on air.
“It’s really her influence,” said one cable executive familiar with the network. “She jumped in with both feet.”
In April, Winfrey became OWN’s top saleswoman when she pitched the network to an audience of advertisers during the springtime ad sales market known as the “upfront.”
On stage, Winfrey said she wanted to keep “inspiring people and giving them hope — and some cars,” a reference to a 2004 marketing stunt she pulled when she gave away Pontiacs to all 276 audience members. Not surprisingly, Pontiac is a division of GM.
Winfrey continued her charm offensive that night when, according to a source, she hosted an intimate dinner with a number of advertisers at a New York restaurant.
Ad execs also expect OWN to compete for dollars with more established, women-centric networks, in particular the leader, Lifetime, whose ratings among women ages 25 to 54 are down more than 11 percent since the start of the season.
“It will take money from some of the established cable nets but the question is at what price,” said an ad buyer.
Unlike most cable networks that have to build a brand identity, Winfrey’s comes with instant name recognition and legions of fans. The network’s programming will build on the aspirational, self-improvement message she honed during her daytime reign.
“Viewers may go just for the Oprah seal of approval,” said Don Seaman, director of communications analysis at media-buying firm MPG. “That may validate the network moreso than another cable network launching from cold.”
Aside from Winfrey, the network has another built-in advantage: sizable distribution. OWN will launch in 80 million US homes on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel. Most upstart cable networks struggle to reach 50 million US homes, when they are considered to be in the big leagues.