High-stakes redemption in high definition, next on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
In the highly competitive world of journalism, one particular aphorism resonates in the minds of reporters everywhere: You’re only as valuable as your last big scoop. It’s a principle that surely must have guided Oprah Winfrey when she landed a coveted interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong on her eponymous cable network.
In one fell swoop, the woman who, at the height of her fame, was referred to as the Queen of media has managed an impressive dual feat. Proving that lightning really can strike twice in the same place, Ms. Winfrey duplicated the public relations coup she pulled off nearly a year ago when she scored a sit-down with Whitney Houston’s troubled teenage daughter. If she plays her cards right, she may help resuscitate the flagging fortunes of her network, which most viewers can barely find on their cable boxes.
It remains to be seen whether the Armstrong interview will rival or exceed the record ratings the OWN Network set for the Bobbi Kristina/Clan Houston confab. Judging by how the pre-interview buzz has quickly becoming a deafening roar, the initial signals look promising.
On morning talk and entertainment shows around the country this week, rumors of Lance Armstrong’s mea culpa flooded the airwaves, accompanied by impromptu analyses of his (assumed) confession of steroid use. Just when a formerly adoring public had written him off, Armstrong has managed to vault right back into the news cycle.
Indeed, Kim Kardashian’s baby bump — and Shawty Lo’s actual babies — had all but washed away the athlete’s assumed indiscretions from the public’s consciousness.
Then again, such has always been the inexplicable magnetism of Oprah. As she struggles to salvage both her network and the damage its failure may wreak on her reputation, it’s easy to forget the Chicago native once had a Midas touch that illuminated virtually everything she touched.
From her book club to the lucrative commercial bonanza of her “Favorite Things,” Oprah has always found a way to make herself part of the conversation. Oprah’s prowess forces people to mention her the same breath as Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer. She is the Mother Confessor, the person whose couch public figures always want to visit on a publicity tour.
All of which suggests that in some ways, Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Armstrong have forged a marriage of convenience. The former seven Tour de France winner is a thoroughly diminished figure, ignominiously stripped of his titles amid a performance-enhancing drug scandal he denied repeatedly.
His fall from grace — along with a blinding narcissism — is stunning, even in even in an age where the public is inured to accusations of steroid use by sports figures. It’s doubtful there’s anything the cancer survivor will be able to do at this point to repair his reputation.
As the media frenzy confirms, Lance Armstrong could have taken his story to any major network of his choosing. Yet he chose a news magazine on a little-watched network. Why? Most likely because the station in question belongs to Oprah, who despite her fading star still has the requisite cachet to grill Armstrong in a fair way.
That’s right ladies and gentlemen: it may have been a rocky last few years for the heroine in our tale since she wrapped up The Oprah Winfrey Show, but she’s still got it.
All of which explains why Lance Armstrong must have been an irresistible target for Oprah herself. By answering his call, the media mogul has managed to reaffirm her own cultural relevance, oddly enough by aligning herself with a tarnished icon who may very well have to stand trial for his transgressions. It could even be argued that Armstrong and Winfrey are kindred spirits. Both have spent the last few years in the jungle after strategic career miscalculations.
To be sure, doping and potential perjury are a far cry indeed from trying to right a floundering cable channel. However, their circumstances are similar: two global superstars parachuted into unfamiliar and hostile territory. As any survivalist or soldier can attest, the wilderness be unforgiving and brutal.
The last few years have been a tough exercise in humility for Ms. Winfrey. The experience with OWN must have taught her success in one area doesn’t translate into currency for another. Hence, the Armstrong interview is the very definition of high stakes for the multimedia queen. For her, being the person who sautées Lance Armstrong on live television could be the equivalent of Katie Couric’s fateful interview with Sarah Palin in 2008 (which, incidentally, rescued her own flagging ratings at CBS).
It may become the shot in the arm a failing television station — and the damage that would result from her having to pull the plug on it — that Oprah needs.