In a series of announcements set for the cabler’s upfront presentation Thursday, OWN has also set Octavia Spencer to topline a miniseries revolving around a journalist investigating the notorious mass murder and cover-up in Tulsa, Okla., in 1921.
OWN has ordered 20 more episodes of Tyler Perry’s hit primetime soap “The Haves and the Have Nots,” bringing it to 56 episodes to air through 2015. A new Perry drama series, “Single Mom’s Club,” is set for a fall debut with a 20-episode order.
Justin Timberlake is lined up as the first guest on the new season of Oprah Winfrey’s interview series “Oprah’s Master Class,” to bow May 11.
Another programming tentpole planned for next year is the seven-part docu series “Belief,” examining the origins of faith “through the eyes of believers.”
In its fourth year on the air, OWN comes to the upfront with a real ratings growth story to tell, thanks to the anchors provided by “Haves and the Have Nots” and a handful of other shows gaining traction on the cabler that is a joint venture of Winfrey’s Harpo and Discovery Communications.
“Coming off our most watched quarter in network history, we are excited to get to work on these new scripted projects with Octavia and Toni,”said Erik Logan, president OWN. “By diversifying our programming, we are also growing our audience, and these new projects put us in a great position to take the network to the next level.
