After 25 years on the air, Oprah will announce tomorrow that she will NOT renew her contract and her talk show will end on September 9, 2011.
She reportedly told staff Thursday afternoon that this will be the last her talk show so she can focus on her new network.
Back in January of 2008, Oprah announced she was launching OWN – The Oprah Winfrey Network. It was widely expected that the TV talk queen would stop doing her syndicated program in September 2011 to focus on the cable network. Sources said that the Oprah Winfrey Show would not move to OWN.
If Oprah does indeed retire her show another matter of who or what will take her place will be buzzing around soon. Ellen DeGeneres will certainly have a corner on the market.
UPDATE:
Tim Bennett, president of HARPO, has CONFIRMED that Oprah will be making the announcement tomorrow that the show will end in 2011.
“Tomorrow, Oprah will announce live on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ that she has decided to end what is arguably one of the most popular, influential and enduring programs in television history. The sun will set on the “Oprah” show as its 25th season draws to a close on September 9, 2011.”
Yours truly will be hiding in a bomb shelter and living on vodka and Kashi for the next few days until the shrieks of homemakers every where turn to gentle sobs.
