OWN Will Stream Oprah's Armstrong Interview Free Online

Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon also to provide live Internet video feed

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/17/2013 10:55:01 AM

Discovery Communications will provide a free live video stream of Oprah Winfrey's exclusive interview with Lance Armstrong at Oprah.com of the two-night event airing on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network starting at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday.

In addition, Discovery is making the Internet stream available to Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon, which will offer access to it on their websites.

"Because it is such a huge event and so widely anticipated, we offered it to our partners as a value-add," Discovery spokeswoman Jenn Marburg said. "Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon will stream it live on their sites and Charter is linking to oprah.com from theirs."

Winfrey's interview with Armstrong -- who is expected to own up to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career -- will air in two parts on OWN. The special episode of Oprah's Next Chapter will air Thursday, Jan. 17, from 9 to 10:30 p.m. ET/PT and Friday, Jan. 18, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The two-and-a-half-hour interview was taped in Austin, Texas, on Monday.

Two-year-old OWN has struggled to win viewers after Winfrey left her long-running daytime talk show to launch the cable network in a joint venture with Discovery. Discovery expects OWN to break even in the second half of 2013.