Oprah ends latest chapter of her television career

Oprah Winfrey interviews Michael Jackson on her television show in 1993. Oprah announced yesterday that her daytime show was to end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons.

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OPRAH Winfrey's powerhouse daytime television show, the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire with legions of fans, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air.

Holding back tears as she talked to the studio audience, Winfrey said yesterday her decision to set a final date came "after much prayer and careful thought."

At the end of a live broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the 55-year-old Winfrey thanked viewers who invited her into their living rooms over the years. She admitted that when the show started in 1986, she was nervous and never could have imagined the "yellow brick road of blessings" that led her to this moment.

Once a local Chicago morning program, the production evolved into United States television's top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the US alone.

"Oprah Winfrey is in a category of her own," said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. "This is a great American story and like any great American story it's supersized."

Winfrey is expected to start up a new talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. OWN is to replace the Discovery Health Channel and will debut in some 74 million homes in 2011.

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