Pursuits
Ex-Viacom Chief Tom Freston on Oprah, Vice Media, and Afghan TV
The former head of Viacom talks about breakfast with Oprah, Afghan TV, and the killer media app
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Since you abruptly left Viacom in 2006, you’ve been involved with Vice Media, a hypermasculine brand, and Oprah’s network, OWN, the ultimate women’s brand. What’s it like to move between Oprah and Shane Smith?
Shane has an interesting bunch of guys. And Oprah is wonderful. She romanced me into helping her. She made breakfast for me. But women’s programming is not my forte. I helped make it a viable business in terms of the distribution deals with cable operators. OWN will make money this year.