10:18 AM Thursday, September 02, 2010
Winfrey: Prayer, Careful Thought Influenced Exit
Date: Friday, November 20, 2009, 5:17 am
By: Caryn Rousseau, Associated Press
By: Caryn Rousseau, Associated Press
Oprah Winfrey plans to announce the final date for her show during a live broadcast Friday. (Retna)
CHICAGO (AP) — Holding back tears, Oprah Winfrey told her studio audience Friday that she would end her show in 2011 after a quarter-century on the air, saying prayer and careful thought led her to her decision.
Winfrey told the audience that she loved "The Oprah Winfrey Show," that it had been her life and that she knew when it was time to say goodbye. "Twenty-five years feels right in my bones and feels right in my spirit," she said.
Winfrey talked about being nervous when the program began in 1986 and thanked audiences who had invited her into their homes and lives over the past two decades.
"I certainly never could have imagined the yellow brick road of blessings that have led me to this moment," she said.
The powerhouse show became the foundation for her multibillion-dollar media empire, but in the last year, has seen its ratings slip 7 percent. Winfrey, 55, 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.
Winfrey offered no specifics about her plans for the future, except to say that she intended to produce the best possible shows during her last 18 months on the air.
"Over this holiday break, my team and I will be brainstorming new ways that we can entertain you and inform you and uplift you when we return here in January," she said. "And then, season 25 — we are going to knock your socks off."
CBS Television Distribution, which distributes the 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 on Friday morning seemed to support Winfrey's decision.
"It's time to elevate to something new," said Sandra Donaldson, 59, of Indianapolis. "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.
Audience members described the atmosphere inside the studio Friday as tense and emotional, with some reaching for tissues as Winfrey announced her decision. "The whole audience was very quiet and she kept saying, 'You can breathe,'" said Jennifer Aguilera, 32, of Joliet, Ill.
Fans expressed hope that Winfrey would soon announce another project.
"Oprah, she impacts everybody, her life, the way she gives," said Shawana Fletcher, 29, of Chicago. "I hope she's not totally done. That's what we're praying."
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, Whitney Houston and ESPN's Erin Andrews, and just this week, former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
As a newcomer, "The .....
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My GOODNESSS, what happened to her hair? I have never seen her in this manner? It reminds me of a person w/DOUBLE STANDARDS? Why she has posed here as a REAL BLK Woman, But dosent do the same during the filming of her talk show?
by
Leolioness44
November 22, 2009, 8:21 am
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I'll miss you Oprah! I've watched you everyday since you've been on. I just hate I never got the opportunity to come to your show. And I have tried MANY times. Tickets were impossible to get. I'll miss you! You've done A LOT OF WONDERFUL THINGS FOR SO MANY PEOPLE!:)
by
Tchkds
November 21, 2009, 5:41 pm
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I can't wait for the OWN to be up and running. It is about time Oprah.
by
Yaegerj
November 21, 2009, 3:42 am
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I liked her titles OWN and Harpo thats relative to her name you cant get it confused. thats what Im talking about.. you go Oprah thats a bad woman
by
Trdaye
November 20, 2009, 9:58 am
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Congratulations Oprah on 24 years of a stellar career. You bought much to the city of Chicago and entertained millions everyday. And got crazy rich doing it!
I look forward to your 25th year. I'm sure there will be plenty of surprises.
by
FiftyCyn
November 20, 2009, 9:58 am
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