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Oprah announces show will end
By Caryn Rousseau, Associated Press Writer
Friday, November 20, 2009 | No comments posted.
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CHICAGO — Oprah Winfrey says her powerhouse daytime television show will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air.
Winfrey said today that her decision to end “The Oprah Winfrey Show” came “after much prayer and careful thought.”
Winfrey held back tears as she talked to the studio audience. She thanked viewers who invited her into their living rooms over the years.
The 55-year-old Winfrey says that when the show started in 1986, she was nervous.
She says she never could have imagined the “yellow brick road of blessings” that led her to this moment.
Winfrey is widely expected to start up a new talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a much-delayed joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. that is projected to debut in 2011. OWN is to replace the Discovery Health Channel and will debut in some 74 million homes. An OWN spokeswoman declined comment Thursday.
CBS Television Distribution, which distributes “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to more than 200 U.S. markets, held out hope it could continue doing business with Winfrey, perhaps producing a new show out of its studios in Los Angeles.
“We know that anything she turns her hand to will be a great success,” the CBS Corp. unit said in a statement. “We look forward to working with her for the next several years, and hopefully afterwards as well.”
Many fans heading into Harpo Studios this morning seemed to support Winfrey’s decision to end the show.
“You always want to end a show when people want more — and not when people are sick of watching you,” said Rebecca Switaj, 31, of Chicago.
Said Sandra Donaldson, 59, of Indianapolis: “It’s time to elevate to something new. Whatever she does is going to be a blessing. It’s going to be rewarding and eye-opening. Her name alone opens doors.”
Once a local Chicago morning program, the production evolved into television’s top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.
“Oprah Winfrey is in a category of her own,” said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. “This is a great American story and like any great American story it’s supersized.”
Winfrey’s 24th season opened this year with a bang, as she drew more than 20,000 fans to Chicago’s Magnificent Mile for a block party with the Black Eyed Peas. She followed with a series of blockbuster interviews — Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, singer Whitney Houston and ESPN’s Erin Andrews, and just this week, former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
The loss of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” would be a blow to CBS Corp., which earns a percentage of hefty licensing fees from TV stations that use it — largely ABC affiliates. CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told analysts two weeks ago that the contract with the show runs through most of 2011 and “if there’s a negative impact, it wouldn’t hit us until ’12.”
Winfrey said today that her decision to end “The Oprah Winfrey Show” came “after much prayer and careful thought.”
Winfrey held back tears as she talked to the studio audience. She thanked viewers who invited her into their living rooms over the years.
The 55-year-old Winfrey says that when the show started in 1986, she was nervous.
She says she never could have imagined the “yellow brick road of blessings” that led her to this moment.
Winfrey is widely expected to start up a new talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a much-delayed joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. that is projected to debut in 2011. OWN is to replace the Discovery Health Channel and will debut in some 74 million homes. An OWN spokeswoman declined comment Thursday.
CBS Television Distribution, which distributes “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to more than 200 U.S. markets, held out hope it could continue doing business with Winfrey, perhaps producing a new show out of its studios in Los Angeles.
“We know that anything she turns her hand to will be a great success,” the CBS Corp. unit said in a statement. “We look forward to working with her for the next several years, and hopefully afterwards as well.”
Many fans heading into Harpo Studios this morning seemed to support Winfrey’s decision to end the show.
“You always want to end a show when people want more — and not when people are sick of watching you,” said Rebecca Switaj, 31, of Chicago.
Said Sandra Donaldson, 59, of Indianapolis: “It’s time to elevate to something new. Whatever she does is going to be a blessing. It’s going to be rewarding and eye-opening. Her name alone opens doors.”
Once a local Chicago morning program, the production evolved into television’s top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.
“Oprah Winfrey is in a category of her own,” said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. “This is a great American story and like any great American story it’s supersized.”
Winfrey’s 24th season opened this year with a bang, as she drew more than 20,000 fans to Chicago’s Magnificent Mile for a block party with the Black Eyed Peas. She followed with a series of blockbuster interviews — Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, singer Whitney Houston and ESPN’s Erin Andrews, and just this week, former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
The loss of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” would be a blow to CBS Corp., which earns a percentage of hefty licensing fees from TV stations that use it — largely ABC affiliates. CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told analysts two weeks ago that the contract with the show runs through most of 2011 and “if there’s a negative impact, it wouldn’t hit us until ’12.”
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