Oprah Winfrey optimistic about OWN despite a rough first year

(CBS/AP) Oprah Winfrey earned the rare opportunity to convert her media charisma into a monogramed TV channel. Now she's the one tasked with rescuing OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, after a disappointing first year.

"Yes, some mistakes were made. Who hasn't made mistakes? The real beauty is you can say, 'I learned from that,'" Winfrey said. "I don't worry about failure. I worry about, 'Did I do all I could do?'"

The cable channel, which marks its first year Jan. 1, is trying to rebuild after turnover and missteps, despite a Discovery Communications investment of a reported $250 million and counting.

"I would absolutely say it is and was not where I want it to be for year one," Winfrey said. "My focus up until (last) May was doing what I do best, which is 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' and giving that my full attention" until its conclusion."

Soon Winfrey's presence will be boosted on the network with a new weekly series entitled, "Oprah's Next Chapter." The series, which features Oprah on the road instead of in the studio, is set to debut Sunday at 9 p.m. EST with Winfrey's visit to the New Hampshire home of Steven Tyler.

Winfrey, who ruled as the queen of daytime TV until she ended her talk show after 25 years, has been receiving pep talks from other media movers and shakers.

"Everybody has told me -- Ted Turner has told me, Barry Diller has told me, Lorne Michaels has told me, David Geffen has told me -- anybody who's ever worked with a channel, who's ever done anything, has said it takes three to five years," she said, adding, "You have to do the work. ... You do not have to pay attention to the criticism."

Winfrey also is on-air with "Oprah's Lifeclass," which draws on her talk-show archives, and "Oprah's Master Class," a series of high-achiever biography specials. But, she said, she never "was supposed to carry the channel on my back, and it never was supposed to be about me being on the air as much as possible." Instead, O magazine, with Winfrey as monthly cover girl and articles reflecting her better-life philosophy, is the intended model.

She attributes the channel's rough start to a more basic error: The lack of a "library" of programming for the many hours of airtime not filled by original shows, compounded by overconfidence about her market value in general.

Winfrey claims to have an unlikely sounding Plan B if the channel falls short. "If this doesn't work out, I'm going to go into organic farming in Maui. And I'm not kidding."