Everything old is new again, at least on the OWN network. During a panel at the TCA Cable Press tour, Oprah Winfrey addressed journalists about how she’ll be repurposing her eponymous TV show. “I’m excited to tell you that we had originally thought of putting ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ library on the air in such a way that we would look at it as maybe some of the best shows… and then one day I was standing in my kitchen window and thought about this moment and this opportunity for the network, and I realized that this is a dream come true for me, having this platform.”
Mentioning how she was inspired by an article in USA Today about German author Eckart Tolle titled, “The world’s biggest classroom,” Winfrey said her brainstorm was to use the old show as a platform for self improvement. “I wanted to embrace the idea of creating the world’s biggest classroom.
Though we’re not sure how old interviews with, say, Tom Cruise will work as educational tools (perhaps tips on how best to jump on a sofa), OWN will give educational a broad definition. “We’re going to call it ‘OWN Your Life: The Oprah Class’ and take the 4,561 shows of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ and use them as a teaching tool, repackaged and rehosted by myself in ways that we can teach people how to live their best lives, teach them about their potential, about forgiveness, about raising children, about divorce, about their relationships, and really, I think, magnify the potential and deepen the potential of that library.”
The program will feature a companion online class including actual course work on Oprah.com. Viewers can sign up to reserve a spot now, and OWN has a goal of reaching 1 million “student” viewers.