Oprah's network keeps sliding

The Oprah Winfrey Network, now in its fifth week, is losing viewers, fast. For the week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, ratings among women 25-54 - a key demographic - fell 17 percent from a week earlier. In just primetime, it was down 34 percent. What must be particularly worrisome is that OWN is now well below that of Discovery Health, the channel that it replaced. From TV By the Numbers:

SELECTED NETWORKS Prime-time Women 25-54 (Live+SD)

Network (000s)

Lifetime 394

Hallmark 182

Oxygen 133

OWN 54

SELECTED NETWORKS Total Day Women 25-54 (Live+SD)

Network (000s)

LIFE 240

HALL 109

OXYG 90

OWN 40

So much for all that pre-launch publicity. Viewing habits are very hard to change.