Oprah Decides to Leave Television After 25 Years
After a quater century on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey has decided to end her show after the 25th season, in 2011.
On November 20th the words were heard throughout the nation, in barbershops and bars, in kitchens and living rooms. Oprah Winfrey, after 24 seasons on her commercially successful talk show which has prompted a cult-like following of Oprah’s life, will stop broadcasting in 2011.
According to Winfrey, 25 years seemed like the right number, and after a quarter century, who can blame her? Oprah, 55, will move on to cable programming after the end of her show, but many of her most loyal followers claim they will stick with her no matter what. But is Oprah’s move to cable really just a way to boost her profits?
According to Robert Rosenthal, Oprah has an audience who “will follow her no matter where she goes,” because while she takes sides in the political world, “she transcends politics.” This means, however, that they will also follow her even if they have to pay.
The loss of Oprah’s show, however, means more than just disappointed fans. Already in challenging times due to the troubling economy, many networks believe the loss of Oprah’s show will cause already declining revenues to fall further.
While broadcast television will now have an empty void to fill, there will undoubtedly be some talk show hosts wishing to capture the audience once tuned into Oprah. Many argue, however, that the void left by the departure of Oprah’s show will never be filled again.
“I love this show. This show has been my life,” said Oprah Winfrey, holding back tears in front of the camera. Who knows what will happen from here, but the television networks, Oprah, and Oprah’s followers have 18 months to figure something out.
Who knows, maybe Oprah will change her mind!
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