Oprah is OWN CEO (WSJ)

By Nancy Tartaglione

The Wall Street Journal reported - and OWN confirmed - that Oprah Winfrey is to become CEO of her cable channel in the fall. Winfrey will also serve as chief creative officer. The moves follow several management shake-ups and come in the face of mediocre ratings for the nascent venture.

OWN fired chief executive Christina Norman in May while several programming and marketing execs left last year.

Peter Liguori was named interim CEO after Norman left. He is expected to stay on in that role for at least several months during the transition, The Journal said.

In OWN's statement, it added that Erik Logan and Sheri Salata, currently presidents of Harpo Studios, will now become presidents of OWN, effective immediately. Logan and Salata will work closely with Liguori to ensure a smooth transition and maximum creative output over the coming months.

Additionally, all future television production at Harpo Studios will be directed exclusively to OWN.

The shift to the corner office highlights Winfrey's desire to take full creative and operational control of the six-month-old channel, The Journal opines.

At Allen & Co's Sun Valley retreat last week, Winfrey reportedly told the heads of the world's largest media and technology companies that the purpose of her network is to help people find their "inner light."