<![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, discovery]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, discovery]]> http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/discovery http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/discovery <![CDATA[Oprah to OWN her own cable channel]]> Who needs a YouTube channel when you can have your own cable network? Estrogen-drenched media mogul Oprah Winfrey has formed a cashless 50-50 joint venture with Discovery Communications to launch the Oprah Winfrey Network in mid-2009. The channel will replace the Discovery Health channel and, in exchange, Discovery will operate the Oprah.com website. With her name all over the network — and her aspirations for global dominance spelled out in the channels acronym — Winfrey appears fully committed to this latest venture. Unlike her last cable channel, Oxygen.

Winfrey backed out of of the hybrid Internet-cable venture when she quietly sold her stake just prior to NBC Universal's acquisition of the languishing property. "Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold," says Winfrey. What happens to a dream deferred? If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Photo by George Burns)

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<![CDATA[HowStuffWorks to teach Discovery how Internet works?]]> Discovery Communications, owners of popular cable networks like the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, and the Travel Channel, hopes purchasing popular web property HowStuffWorks for $250 million will help it transition to the Web. On the surface, the topical match between the cable net and the website looks like a marriage made in heaven. But while it's true that established media companies have mostly failed at building their own Web sites, there's no guarantee that buying will work out any better. The plan will begin by integrating Discovery video segments into the HowStuffWorks site, followed by producing television content using HowStuffWorks's library of articles. Right, sure, sounds good — but really, how do you mesh "Shark Week" and "Mythbuster" video into HowStuffWorks' wonkery?

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