OWN names Norman its new CEO

According to a Los Angeles Times report, the upstart Oprah Winfrey Network, has hired former MTV president Christina Norman as its new CEO.

Norman spent 17 years at Viacom-owned MTV prior to stepping down as president last year. Before that Norman ran its sister station VH1.

As chief executive of OWN, Norman, 45, will oversee the business and programming functions of the TV channel and Internet site.

Norman initially discussed the CEO position with the owners last spring, "but the timing wasn't right," she said in an interview. Then last Friday she accepted the job.

A launch date hasn't been set yet for the network other than early 2010. The channel is set to replace the Discovery Health Network. Little is known about the venture's programming plans, including how involved, on and off screen, chairwoman Oprah Winfrey will be.

Channel executives are expected to give advertisers a preview of their programming plans in March.

"As with any new cable network launch, it's always a challenge to get advertisers to sign on," said Chris Neel, director of national broadcast for ad firm Initiative. "Certainly Oprah is a known quantity so that will help them, but the network won't have Oprah 24/7."

The weakening economy has also been an obstacle for OWN. However, Neel said OWN will have the advantage of being available in 70 million homes at launch, more than double the number for most start-up channels.