TIMES ONLINE: Oprah Winfrey, the Queen of the American talk show, is to give up her sofa after 25 years of A-List interviews, weepy personal confessions, and spectacular audience give-aways—in spite of a contract that saw her earn an estimated $275 million (£166 million) last year alone.
The 55-year-old African American star, who was born into poverty in rural Mississippi—the daughter of a teenage single mother—is thought to have decided to call an end to her hugely successful show because of her much-anticipated plans to launch a cable channel.
“The sun will set on the ‘Oprah’ show as its 25th season draws to a close on September 9, 2011,” wrote Tim Bennett, the president of Ms Winfrey’s company, Harpo Products, in a letter to employees. They were reportedly informed of the decision late on Thursday.
In spite of its 4pm air-time and relatively modest viewership of 7 million, The Oprah Winfrey show is a force like no other in modern broadcasting.
Vastly influential with American women, its unashamed sentimentality and focus on inspirational first-person stories and self-improvement advice has influenced American pop culture profoundly, in particular the presentation of news.
Indeed, the ‘Oprahfication’ of news is such that when Ms Winfrey announced to her studio audience last year that she had gained weight—to the point where she had reached 200lbs—the revelation briefly turned into a more prominent story on the cable news channels than the collapse of the global economy. >>> Chris Ayres in Los Angeles | Friday, November 20, 2009
