Oprah Winfrey to Announce 2011 End to Her TV Show

Oprah Winfrey plans to end her syndicated television show in September 2011, as she turns her efforts toward a new cable-television channel she plans to launch with Discovery Communications Inc.
Ms. Winfrey told her staff of her decision on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Ms. Winfrey plans to make an official announcement on her talk show Friday morning, according to a spokeswoman.The move is a big blow to the syndicated television market, in which Ms. Winfrey has grown to become a juggernaut. "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which launched in syndication in 1986, attracted 6.6. million viewers for the week ended November 8, according to Nielsen Co. 
Local television stations, which use Ms. Winfrey to anchor their daytime hours, could also smart from Ms. Winfrey's decision. Her show has been one of the few whose ad rates have held steady in the recession, according to one ad buyer.

"In our market she does extremely well and always has," said Barry Smith, director of programming and creative services for KFMB-TV, a CBS affiliate in San Diego, Calif., owned by Midwest Television Inc. "It's going to be a task" to replace her, Mr. Smith added.The news was first reported on the Web site of a local ABC station that airs the show, New York's WABC-TV. Ms. Winfrey's decision also represents a hit to CBS Corp., which distributes Ms. Winfrey's show in syndication. "We look forward to working with her for the next several years, and hopefully afterwards as well," the company said in a statement supplied by a spokesman. Ms. Winfrey is likely to turn her attention to her new television network, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which she announced with cable programmer Discovery Communications in January of 2008. The new channel is structured as a 50-50 joint venture between Ms. Winfrey and Discovery, and includes Oprah.com.

"I will be involved in every single element of programming," Ms. Winfrey said in an interview with the Journal at the time. Since then, the network has seen its launch pushed back. In January, OWN hired former MTV president Christina Norman to be chief executive. She took over from former Viacom Chief Executive and MTV veteran Tom Freston, who has quietly served as a consultant for the network, according to people familiar with the situation. SOURCE OF THIS POST