Tyler Perry Signs Exclusive Television Deal with Oprah\'s Network

By BRIAN STELTER

Tyler Perry, the prolific television producer behind sitcoms like “House of Payne,” will soon start to produce shows exclusively for OWN, Oprah Winfrey's cable network.

The exclusive partnership between Mr. Perry and Ms. Winfrey, announced Monday, may be OWN's biggest programming bet to date.

The network, which has struggled to define itself and draw an audience since its founding 22 months ago, said in a news release that it planned to premiere two new scripted series made by Mr. Perry sometime in mid-2013. Going forward, OWN will be Mr. Perry's “singular destination for all new television series and projects,” the network said.

Mr. Perry's current home on cable, TBS, will continue to broadcast repeats of his shows “House of Payne,” “Meet the Browns” and “For Better or Worse.” But he will only produce new shows for OWN.

The network did not disclose the amount paid to Mr. Perry. But the multiyear deal is almost certain to consume a large portion of OWN's annual programming budget, particularly because it involves scripted shows, which are more expensive to produce than unscripted shows. Until now, OWN has only broadcast unscripted series.

Ms. Winfrey, the chief executive of OWN, said in a news release, “I have been looking forward to the day when we would be in the position to enter the world of scripted television. That day has come. We are all energized by the opportunity to collaborate with Tyler who has a proven track record for producing highly successful cable series. He has an incredible ability to illuminate life stories and characters in his unique voice and inspires and encourages people all over the world.”

The deal with OWN signals that Mr. Perry has ruled out the creation of a cable channel of his own. Last year The New York Times reported that Mr. Perry and the distributor of his films, Lionsgate, were considering creating such a channel, tentatively called Tyler TV. One option for carriage at the time was a takeover of the TV Guide Network. (Ms. Winfrey and her partner, Discovery Communications, created OWN the same way, by taking over the Discovery Health Channel.)

Instead, Mr. Perry is collaborating with a fellow media mogul and friend, Ms. Winfrey. Five years ago, in a moneyed gesture of friendship, Mr. Perry presented Ms. Winfrey and her best friend Gayle King with matching white Bentley convertibles after they admired his own Bentley.

Mr. Perry also appeared several times on Ms. Winfrey's old talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

“It's a dream realized to partner with Oprah and bring scripted programming to OWN,” Mr. Perry said in a statement. “She has accomplished so much with the network and I'm excited to work with her to be a part of its continued growth.”

OWN will likely give Mr. Perry two nights of the network's prime tim e schedule, complimenting Ms. Winfrey, whose shows also take up two nights of the schedule. The other nights will have other unscripted shows and various repeats from Discovery-owned networks.