Having invested a reported $20 million in Geraldine Laybourne's Oxygen Media, TV talk show titan Oprah Winfrey is now stepping up to provide the struggling network with something more valuable: a prime-time show that may attract viewers.

Winfrey had originally endowed the 2-year-old channel with rights to the reruns of The Oprah Winfrey Show. But last week Oxygen and Winfrey announced that beginning September a new show will be produced, on the heels of her popular syndicated show.

Episodes of the 30-minute Oprah After the Show will be taped in Chicago immediately following the one-hour talk show.

?Now you get to see what happens after the credits roll on The Oprah Winfrey Show,? Winfrey said in a statement. ?We're going to kick off our shoes, take questions from the audience and see where the conversation takes us. It's going to be a vibing party!? Oprah said.

Oprah After the Show will appear at 7:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. on Oxygen. The 7:30 p.m. airing will lead into the network's prime-time movie package. Other new programs will be announced next month during the Television Critics Association Tour.

?A new show from Oprah is every network's dream come true,? says Debbie Beece, VP-programming.

Oxygen is in 41 million homes. Until a few months ago, the network did not subscribe to Nielsen, leading to reports that very few people were watching. In its first monthly reports, Oxygen drew a prime-time rating of 0.16 in April and 0.14 in May. Those are low ratings, to be sure, but a network spokesperson tried to put an encouraging spin on the numbers. ?We are an emerging network with an emerging network's ratings,? the spokesperson says.

How many viewers will the new show attract? ?That's the question of the day,? says Beece. She notes that this show will be the first opportunity many working women have had to watch Winfrey. And Winfrey has proved to be a force in other media, with a magazine and a book club that pushed unknown titles onto best-seller lists.

Beece says Oxygen isn't paying Winfrey extra to produce the show. ?This is part of our deal with Oprah as a founder of the network.?

This season Oxygen will air 145 episodes of Oprah After the Show, and the network has an option for a couple more seasons, Beece says.

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