Oprah Winfrey Network and Kardashians: Jumping the shark?

Has OWN, the struggling Oprah Winfrey network, finally jumped the shark?

The announcement that Winfrey will sit down with Kim Kardashian and her entire family for a segment of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” might suggest that OWN may be entering a heightened state of desperation in its hunger for ratings.

Winfrey is sitting down with the Kardashian family members — and their significant others — at the Jenner home in Hidden Hills for an interview that will air June 17. The interview will be followed by Part 2 of Winfrey’s interview with rapper and “media mogul Curis “50 Cent” Jackson.

The “50 Cent” interview had already raised eyebrows because of Winfrey’s shunning of rappers during almost the entire run of her syndicated daytime show.

The Kardashian interview is being billed as “the family’s first television interview together,” even though the Kardashians have several series on E! and are always promoting their products — and themselves — on talk shows.

The segment will include “family matriarch Kris Jenner and husband Olympic legend Bruce Jenner, daughters Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kylie and Kendall, son Rob, Khloe’s husband of two years, NBA star Lamar Odom and Kourtney’s longtime boyfriend Scott Disick, father of their 2-year-old son, Jason.”

Though there’s no mention of Kim’s new boyfriend, Kanye West, he may very well join in the festivities, particularly if that will further boost the viewership.

Though controversies ranging from sex tapes and questionable marriages to quick divorces and troubled NBA careers shadow the family, Winfrey will likely be upbeat and nonconfrontational with the family — adding another notch in their mission of self-promotion.