With ratings dropping 49 percent after its debut, you'd think Rosie O'Donnell might be concerned about the future of her new show on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network, but not this TV host. The optimistic O'Donnell isn't at all worried, believing that like all new shows, it's just going to take a little time before Oprah and she can pop the corks on a bottle of celebratory champagne.
Rosie responded to me via Twitter:
Rosie has put a lot of the line -- including moving her family to Chicago -- in order to return to TV, and she is determined to make it a success.
Thankfully, she has a patient boss.
"TV has changed so much since Rosie had her own show," an insider tells me. "Now the market is so fragmented and so many different cable stations exist that it's unfair to compare her new show with her old show's ratings. The most important thing is having a boss that believes in her and is willing to give the new show time to find an audience, which will not happen overnight. And you couldn't wish for a better boss than Oprah."
Lisa Ling, who also works for Oprah at OWN, echoed that sentiment this week, telling me on the set of "New York Live" that building a network from scratch isn't easy, and because of Oprah, they have a huge spotlight on them. However, Lisa does confirm that Oprah has a long-term plan for the network.
