Tegna’s ‘Jakes’ To Also Air On Cable’s OWN

Tegna’s upcoming syndicated talk show T.D. Jakes just got a distribution boost thanks to a deal with Oprah Winfrey’s cable network OWN.

OWN, co-owned by Winfrey and Discovery Networks, has acquired the rights to the Jakes show in a deal that will have the five-day-a-week strip airing on OWN starting Sept. 19. The rights deal was announced by OWN and Tegna today.

T.D. Jakes, hosted by the Dallas-based pastor and inspirational speaker, is being produced by 44Blue Productions, EnLight Productions and T.D. Jakes Enterprises and distributed by Tegna Media. The show has been cleared on 70 stations in 60 markets (accounting for 10 duopoly markets). Thirty-four of the stations are owned by Tegna. Broadcast coverage of T.D. Jakes is 43% of the U.S. While the show’s carriage on OWN will inevitably duplicate coverage in many markets, OWN is available in 85 million TV households, about 80% of the country.

The show premieres in broadcast syndication on Sept. 12, a week earlier than its scheduled debut on OWN, where it will air weekdays at 6 p.m. ET. It’s starting a week later on OWN because OWN already has other shows scheduled in the time period the week before. Going forward, OWN will air the same episodes every day that are airing on broadcast stations at various times of day.

“Oprah and OWN have a wonderful, long-running relationship with Bishop Jakes,” said Erik Logan, OWN president, in a prepared statement. “We are thrilled to welcome his new talk show and unique, inspirational voice to the OWN family.”

“Oprah Winfrey is an icon and a business mogul who has become a national treasure impacting our nation with her creativity,” Jakes said. “I consider her a personal friend and I’m honored to have her support of my new show.”