HBO Teams Up with Oprah Winfrey

By Rick Porter, Zap2It.com | December 17, 2008

Oprah Winfrey

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Winfrey's Harpo Films signs a deal with the network

Oprah Winfrey is expanding her media empire a little bit more, signing a development deal with HBO.

The multi-year agreement calls for Winfrey's production company, Harpo Films, to develop series, movies and miniseries for the premium cable channel. Winfrey calls the deal "the perfect partnership for Harpo" and says she looks forward to working with HBO's "outstanding creative team."

"Oprah personifies excellence and quality in everything she does," adds Richard Plepler, HBO's co-president. "It's a great privilege for us to partner with her in the coming years."

Harpo previously had a deal at ABC, which resulted in movies like "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "Mitch Albom's For One More Day." That deal is coming to an end, however, and with the dwindling space for original movies and miniseries on network television, cable seems like a logical new home for Winfrey's company.

Winfrey will also have her very own cable network, OWN, when Discovery rebrands its Discovery Health Channel next year. OWN's focus will be on unscripted programming about health and wellness, so its programming and Harpo's output for HBO probably won't overlap.