UPDATED 16:24 EDT / APRIL 14 2011

Flipboard Flips Oprah Effect – Raises $50M

Talk show sensation Oprah Winfrey is going to be a part of world’s first social magazine solely for the iPad , Flipboard. This marks the first time that Flipboard is allocating a section on the front page for a partner, in this case, Oprah, in addition to social mediums Facebook and Twitter. The section will feature Oprah’s latest and greatest, as well as content from O, The Oprah Magazine, and the launch of her personal Farewell Countdown Videos.

The iPad is reportedly Oprah’s favorite device, and she’s looking for more ways to stretch her fan base adding access points and niche content portals. User can access O’s iPad app and Oprah.com’s full-page images, stories and videos.  The move also speaks to the potential of the iPad device as a publishing tool, attracting some heavy-hitting brands to support its plans around this particular aspect of the personal cloud.

“What we’ve announced today is a first for Flipboard and an exciting step toward connecting Flipboard readers to the globally admired content from Oprah,” said Mike McCue, CEO and Co-founder of Flipboard. “We’ve been honored to work with her team to create a truly integrated experience that gives Oprah’s audience a way to enjoy her stories and easily share and comment on the things that inspire them everyday.”

“This is a great way for Oprah’s audience all over the world to have access to and share content from Oprah’s various platforms,” said Glenn Kaino, senior vice president, digital, OWN. “We’re excited to be the first in this unique partnership with Flipboard.”

The Oprah Flipboard also archives behind-the-scenes clips from the farewell season of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with Oprah’s Farewell Countdown Videos. President Obama even signed a contract to sit with Oprah on the final season, along with his wife Michelle, obviously as part of his next presidential campaign.

Users can also access stunning before-and-after-photos, find a good recipe, get exclusive expert advice, and see read Oprah’s tweets and see what she’s up to. While Oprah is saying buh-bye to her 25-year strong “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, her new network OWN launched just this January is buckling up for 6 new shows.

The Oprah effect has been quick for Flipboard–the startup announced $50 million in funding the same day it’s OWN partnership was promoted.  The round was led by Insight Venture Partners, with Comcast’s venture arm participating as a new investor, as reported by AllThingsD.  This puts Flipboard’s valuation at $200 million, which is hefty for such an industry newcomer, but the industry is full of expectant potential, and Flipboard’s team and product was strong enough to get the attention of Apple and Oprah early on.

For Apple, the iPad as a publishing tool has piqued the interest of media publications in the hopes to revive some of their lost glory.  Because of internet content running wild these days, Apple’s hoping to bring back some structured monetization around print media. Digital publication is not an entirely new idea. We’ve seen it from Amazon’s Kindle, giving users the ability to access books online. However, never has it aroused the interest of traditional publishers to such an extent as Apple’s done, neither has Amazon targeted these publishers as a portal to consumers’ personal cloud as readily as Apple’s done with its family of devices.

The iPad on the other hand, is a diversion from Amazon and has garnered 50 of the biggest names in the publication industry such as Bloomberg, Time Magazine, Maxim, Elle, The Daily, Reader’s Digest and Men’s Health to publish on the iPad. Apple is building a powerful ring of publishing partners, many of which are locked in for syndication prices and will have somewhat exclusive deals with Apple.


A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU