Oprah Seals Production Deal With HBO

Oprah Winfrey has a production deal with HBO, ending a long-lived partnership with ABC, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The exclusive, 3-year arrangement will allow Oprah’s Harpo Films more flexibility than before. “Being on a cable channel like HBO offers us a tremendous amount of creative freedom not seen on network television,” said the president of Harpo, which ends its 15-year link to ABC.

The deal began to take shape earlier this year when HBO out-bid Harpo for a property, and the parties discovered a mutual interest. An HBO exec said that led to a “shared excitement over the kind of shows they were interested in producing.” The content Harpo produces for HBO will be scripted, from series to documentaries. (More television stories.)