Oprah Winfrey show comes to an end

Date: 2009.11.20 | Category: Seasoned Women | Response: 0

In a letter dated Thursday, Chicago-based Harpo Productions Inc. confirmed that the Queen of Talk has decided to end The Oprah Winfrey Show amidst speculation that Oprah Winfrey could be moving the popular talk show to her new cable network, OWN, which is based in Los Angeles.

The final episode of the groundbreaking talk show is scheduled to air in May 2011 after its 25th season on the air.

Reports say that Winfrey has spoken to her staff about the plans during a meeting Thursday morning, where she reportedly said that severance packages will be given to employees with three or more years of experience if they aren’t placed elsewhere in positions within Harpo.

Winfrey started her broadcasting career in Nashville, Tenn., and Baltimore, Md., before she relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV’s morning talk show “A.M. Chicago” in 1984. A year later, the show was renamed to what is now known as “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, one of the most popular, most enduring programs in television history.

In 1986, Winfrey established Harpo Productions, Inc. as her talk show went into syndication.

Since then, Winfrey has become an undisputed talk show queen with millions of followers in various parts of the globe. Her witty words of wisdom have been quoted by many, looked up to as being someone who speaks through her own experience.

“I came from nothing,” Winfrey wrote in the 1998 book “Journey to Beloved.” “No power. No money. Not even my thoughts were my own. I had no free will. No voice. Now, I have the freedom, power, and will to speak to millions every day — having come from nowhere.”

inset photo from: businessweek.com