Oprah Deserts TV For Cable

The demise of the Oprah Winfrey Show after 25 years is likely to be one of the most disastrous things to hit US TV in years – but is to allow the star to create her own cable network.
For America's television industry, the retirement of Winfrey's show in 2011 is nothing short of a disaster: the programme has been one of only a handful able to hold its advertising rates steady in the recession. The publishing industry will also suffer as book endorsements resulted in many authors becoming overnight millionaires.
Even the political world will be losing a shop window: Barack Obama's presidential campaign got the Winfrey seal of approval, an endorsement that may have netted him about a million votes in the Democratic primary of 2008.
Even though The Oprah Winfrey Show no longer attracts the audience it once did - it was 33 million at its peak - over the years, it has remained a remarkable force in modern broadcasting, holding its No 1 position in the ratings for 23 consecutive seasons.
Winfrey's ability to break news with her interviews have made it virtually impossible for rival shows to keep up, but for Winfrey, 55, who earns more than $275 million (£166 million) a year and is worth $2.7 billion, the end of her TV show will allow her to concentrate on the opening in 2011 of her very own channel.
OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network will be a 50-50 joint venture between the talk show host’s company, Harpo Productions, and Discovery Communications. OWN will ultimately replace the existing Discovery Health channel, which has failed to attract a loyal audience.
Winfrey's previous television channel, Oxygen, was sold to NBC Universal in 2007 for just under $1 billion.
Harpo Productions - the name is 'Oprah' spelt backwards - publishes O magazine (circulation: 2.3 million) and produces other television shows (including Dr Phil), movies (including Beloved, starring Winfrey), and radio shows for the satellite broadcaster Sirius XM and has 410 employees and annual revenues of $345 million overall.
Winfrey's success comes against a harsh background. Raped as a child, she became pregnant at the age of 14, and her son died shortly after birth.
She began her broadcasting career in Nashville, Tennessee, eventually moving to Chicago in 1984 to host a breakfast show, A.M. Chicago. It became The Oprah Winfrey Show within a year and by 1986 she had set up Harpo Productions and sold national syndication rights.
(BMcC/KMcA)