Oprah Announces Oscar Special For OWN Network

Oprah Winfrey will take a stab at the Oscar’s this year when her OWN network airs original Oscar coverage nearly one week leading up to the Academy Awards ceremony. The event is expected to become a yearly franchise for the network.

In the past Oprah has hosted the “After-Oscar Party” which aired live from the Kodak Theater on the Monday following the Academy Awards.

The move back into Oscar territory may pay off for Oprah as her post-Oscar shows in the past have been some of her highest rating attractions. During those shows Oprah sat down with the nights biggest winners including the Best Actor and Best Actress winners.

On the OWN network Winfrey plans to now interview nominees before the big night and she has already lined up The Help actresses Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer along with Moneyball’s Jonah Hill (pictured above), those interviews will air on Oprah’s February 15 Oscar special.

Before his interview with Oprah on Tuesday Jonah Hill tweeted:

“On my way to get interviewed by Oprah at the coffee shop I went to growing up with my family.#weirdestsentenceihaveeversaid“

In the meantime ABC announced last week that “Live! With Kelly” is taking over where Oprah left off by hosting an “After the Oscars” live event from the Kodak Theater this year.

With her own talk show bombing in the ratings and most other OWN network shows struggling to attract new viewers the move to familiar territory could be exactly what the OWN network needs to succeed because obviously Oprah’s attempting at creating a new “brand” around herself simply isn’t working.

Do you think Oprah’s OWN network can benefit from pre-Oscar interviews the same way Oprah has in the past with her “After the Oscars” live broadcast or will Kelly fill in her shoes by taking over the post show?