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Nikki Finke is reporting Oprah Winfrey is moving her show to the Oprah Winfrey Network by 2011, and will be moving production from Chicago to L.A.
Wow. Was it the Olympic loss? Is that what drove her away?
Also, keep in mind that it's Nikki Finke reporting this news, and she doesn't name her source, but if it's true this is a doozy of a scoop. Zap2It reached a Harpo rep who said, "She has not made a decision yet. As she has previously stated, she'll make an announcement before the end of the year."
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If true--a big if at this point, though Finke gets much more right than wrong--it makes you wonder why this city spends so much effort kissing her ass.
Good riddance!
Take your fat ass west!
It would be extremely disappointing if O left - not that I or anyone really cares that Jerry + Wilkos bailed, but its just running more television production out of Chicago.
Maybe she's just angling for a tax break or some money from the TIF honeypot. Works for everyone else, why not her?
"Maybe she's just angling for.....money from the TIF honeypot. Works for everyone else, why not her?"
If Matilda makes a Helllllariously witty and insightful comment ( in her case) State Farm Blue Ribbon winning ),lets censor/ remove it and pass it along to some one having an off day.
By 2011 will anyone still bother watching Oprah? I cannot understand why anyone watches her show now.
And, she is looking awfully dumpy lately. Tabloids at the grocery store say she is hitting the bottle pretty hard lately. I don't read those, but I could not help notice the big photo (of her looking very dumpy) as I waited at the Jewel the other day.
A more important question might be, why should she stay?
I don't really get Chicago's Oprah antipathy. Locals like to talk about Chicago's standing on the world stage and all that, yet they can't stand a woman who has served as one of the only well-respected representatives of the city to the world for two decades. She is the last remaining hint of national media based here. She helped revitalize a neighborhood and has contributed tremendously to the social good of the city. Sure, maybe her shows are crap better suited to my mom's demographic, but she is an important part of Chicago. Why does everybody hate Oprah?
Well, I don't have anything against Oprah, but I think that some folks view her as imperious, others fault her for latching onto wacky trends and allowing questionable "experts" a national platform, and some are just gonna hate anyone who is successful, no matter what.
My mom likes her show, I have friends that work on her show, and I do think she's a positive symbol of Chicago. If she leaves it will kinda suck.
However, I think you can thank UIC for the revitalization of the area Harpo is located. If anything I blame Oprah for fucking up Wishbone after it moved off Grand! So there, I guess I do hold something against her!
Can't speak for anyone else, but I hate her self-help empowerment, New-Agey crap, and her larger-than-life attitude.
And while I don't always like the books she chooses, I give her credit for getting her followers to read some pretty important books, including Anna Karenina.
Yes, I'd rather she stay in Chicago, but I am sick of this city kissing her ass.
heh...I'm glad I read Anna Karenina before in had Oprah's name stamped on the cover.
I do echo your feelings for her, though. Also, I have a neighbor whose best friend works for Oprah. Apparently, it's not all sweetness and light. I think it has a lot to do with Oprah believing the Oprah Hype.
Yeah, but I love the tax revenue she brings to this city and state.
Other than that ... well .... yeah, those Russians sure can write.
Well, that's gonna happen to any ultra-celebrity that lives in a bubble for 20+ years. I think it's unavoidable.
Anna Karenina too! I thought the only real novel she defiled with her name was the Bluest Eye!
Thank D'lawd I purchased a first edition hard copy before the defiling! Now I just have to find Toni Morrison to sign it.
And she should be exiled to Afghanistan with a tattoo on her head that reads "I Love The Bush Family" for what she did to Precious!!!
I CAN"T STANNND THAT HEIFER!!!!
Tell us how you really feel about Oprah, Spook :)
p.s. I can't wait to see Precious and my head must be under a rock because I didn't know that Oprah had her paws on it.
I'll echo what others have said:
Yay to encouraging people en masse to read books.
Nay to giving Suzanne Somers and Jenny McCarthy access to a national audience to spread their unscientific boneheaded theories of medicine.
Nay to her undeniable hubris (herself on every cover of her magazine? singing her own theme song?!?)
I agree with you on all points EXCEPT the theme song. Kelsey Grammer performing the theme song to Fraiser was a mainstay on my iPod for years.
Everybody makes good points, but I have to ask. Does she really sing her own theme song?
I'm reading the article, and am wondering where are they these viewership numbers?
First, they say that by taking her show to a "nosebleed cable channel" She'll be taking her show to 70 million viewers.
Then it goes on to say, "In the U.S., Oprah is viewed by an estimated 7 million people a day (though that audience has fallen by half over the past 10 years)...and in 140 countries." Even with the other countries watching, the math does not add up to go along with the predicted spike in viewers.
I'm assuming that it's potentially 70 million, but that seems to be a huge difference, being that most likely cable and satellite tv services would be not likely to include the channel in basic packages, let alone more people are forgoing these amenities do to tighter budgets.
The cable people are always throwing huge numbers like that & they're always phony numbers.
It's the same with the syndicated radio people.
Limbaugh claims 20 million listeners a week. But that's his cume, the cumulative total of five days of listeners, which means he only has 4 million dittoheads that actually believe his crap!
Always take the numbers of radio & TV with not a grain of salt, but a railroad car of salt!
It's hard out here for a blimp...
I couldn't care one way or another if she leaves. She uses Chicago when it fits her antics, but it isn't like she has transformed the city around her in any positive way.
Harpo studies isn't an attraction, and while this sounds insanely touristy and annoying, she could have created a destination here in Chicago. Move to Michigan Ave., have a HARPO store, etc.
I guess it all gets back to her show though, it is a self help, ego trip. It doesn't further her agenda to be involved in Chicago.
And remember, she isn't from Chicago anyway.
Harpo isn't a tourist attraction? Go by there some warm day, and you will see Asians taking pictures out in front of it. I've seen it myself, and I've seen it on the web, via sources outside of the O-propaganda machine.
Love her or hate her, it really is a kick in the balls for Chicago. Even the midwesterners who flock here to get into her show spend money on things like hotels, taxis, restaurants and the like. When will you people learn what things like this mean to the local economy?
Yeah when my Aunt and cousin visited they made me drive over there and take a picture of them in front of the Harpo sign...*shudders*.
If Oprah moves to Los Angeles, the cult of Oprah will follow her. She will still retain her presence in pop culture. Chicago will lose tax revenue, and that's unfortunate.
I don't consider Oprah a representative of this city, she is a powerful tourist magnet. Oprah probably likes this city for bending to her will in a way that L.A. or New York never will. L.A. and New York are powerful media centers without her.
Oprah's overseas viewership is small compared to figures here in America. Hype about Oprah's worldwide audience is just drivel coming from her own publicity machine.
Please Oprah, take your shitty show off of regular TV, and make your fans pay for it-the world will be better off.
You think the taxes are to high in Chicago. That could be one reason why she is leaving. she's not the only one whos going to be leaving. The taxes in Chicago is driving people out.