Oprah Going To Cable?

by Glynnis MacNicol | 1:52 pm, November 5th, 2009

» 1 comment

oprah-winfrey Earlier this morning there was speculation that Glenn Beck was the new Oprah Winfrey of the book world, due to his ability to affect the sales of fiction thrillers. Well if Nikki Finke is right Winfrey may be contemplating a move into Glenn Beck territory, namely, cable TV. Per Finke:

The industry has been betting that the daytime diva would extend The Oprah Winfrey Show for at least another year or two because of the huge cash license fees which stations have long paid her. But people around Oprah are telling me that won’t happen. They say that Discovery Communications chief David Zaslav has demanded that Oprah “move it or lose it” — move her talk show to OWN, or risk losing the Oprah Winfrey Network altogether. I’ve learned that in coming days Winfrey and Discovery will issue a press release announcing OWN’s on-air launch for the start of 2011. And, in several weeks, Oprah will tell the public that she’s ending her syndicated Chicago-based daytime talk show when her current deal runs out and moving it to OWN headquarters in Los Angeles probably as soon as mid-2011.

Finke’s report was preceded by news that Lisa Erspamer, a co-executive producer of Winfrey’s daytime talk show, is leaving the show to join OWN to “create, shape and drive programming and ensure Oprah’s unique editorial voice across all platforms.”

A side note: If you haven’t yet read Tad Friend’s profile of Finke, it’s worth your time.

Cable TV, Glenn Beck, Nikki Finke, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN

sara

There is a buzz in the old rumor mill stating Ms. Oprah Winfrey will be leaving broadcast television and cable syndication in 2011.

Don’t worry, the Queen of talk will not be retiring. Instead, after the fall of 2011, it is expected The Oprah Winfrey Show will stop airing on broadcast television and cable syndication and she will bring the show to OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network).

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