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By The Numbers

The business of Oprah’s couch

Chau Tu Aug 19, 2013

Oprah Winfrey may not have her daytime network TV show anymore, but that doesn’t mean she’s keeping quiet.

In media news parlance, Winfrey is stilling getting “the big gets,” in terms of heavily sought-after interviews, most recently nabbing actress Lindsay Lohan for a revealing tell-all that aired Sunday night on OWN.

The interview was taped four days after Lohan was released from her latest stint in rehab.

Ratings for the exclusive interview have yet to be released, but they’re expected to be big. Just back in January, the network got a 30 percent ratings boost from Winfrey’s interview with cycling star Lance Armstrong, in which he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs to help him win races. About 3.2 million viewers tuned in, according to Nielsen.

Compared to Oprah’s network heydays, though, these interview numbers are nothing. When Winfrey skewered “A Million Little Pieces” author James Frey on her show back in 2011 for being dishonest in his “memoir,” the show got more than 8 million viewers.

And of course, Winfrey’s couch was the one that Tom Cruise jumped on to profess his love for Katie Holmes in 2005.

Tom Cruise or not, Winfrey’s OWN may finally be finding its footing.

Just last month, the Oprah Winfrey Network reported that it turned a profit in the previous quarter, partly in thanks to two Tyler Perry productions added to the network lineup.

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