Today marks the end of an era. After 25 years of groundbreaking television work, <strong>Oprah Winfrey</strong> is saying goodbye to her weekly audience of 44 million viewers. Since its launch in 1986, <strong><em>The Oprah Winfrey Show</em></strong> has transformed daytime television. Initially debuting in last place, the show eventually went on to become one of the highest rated talk shows in American history. On the way to that milestone, Winfrey became the first African American woman to achieve billionaire status and even earned an Oscar nomination for her role in Steven Spielberg’s <em>The Colored Purple</em>. Although her popular show is coming to end, the multimedia mogul doesn’t stop as she continues to build her brand with Harpo Films, Oprah Radio, <em>O Magazine</em> and her last endeavor, the <strong>Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)</strong>. <strong>BlackEnterprise.com</strong> decodes Winfrey’s brand, influence and legacy.
<ul> <li><strong>THE BILLION-DOLLAR WOMAN </strong></li> </ul> Very few people will earn a billion dollars in their lifetime, let alone an African American woman, but Winfrey achieved that feat twice over with an estimated net worth of $2.7 billion. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey" target="_blank"><em><strong>Forbes</strong></em></a> ranks her as the third most powerful woman in the world, No. 420 on the world’s list of billionaires and the No. 135 ranked billionaire in the United States. Oprah’s money, power and respect all spawn from her extended run as host of <em>The Oprah Winfrey Show</em>, which drew a season high 9 million viewers in the 2004-2005 season. Her sphere of influence transcends television into the worlds of print (<em>O Magazine</em>), radio (Oprah Radio), film (Harpo Films) and even social media, where <a href="http://www.Twitter.com/oprah" target="_blank"><strong>@Oprah</strong></a> boasts close to 6 million followers.
<ul> <li><strong>BOOK SMARTS</strong></li> </ul> With the introduction of the <strong>Oprah Book Club</strong>, Winfrey is often credited with singlehandedly reviving the American publishing industry. According to Nielsen BookScan, Winfrey is directly responsible for more than <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/entertainment/wirestory?id=13644284" target="_blank"><strong>22 million</strong></a> books sold. Her publishing impact is actually much greater but the tracking service, which started in 2001, doesn’t have stats on releases prior to that and only recorded 27 of Oprah’s overall <a href="http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Complete-List-of-Oprahs-Book-Club-Books" target="_blank"><strong>65 picks</strong></a> (Winfrey book club editions only). Over the course of its 14-year run, the book club created instant bestsellers of titles like Eckhart Tolle’s <em>A New Earth</em> (3.4 million copies), James Frey’s <em>A Million Little Pieces</em> (2.7 million copies) and Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel’s <em>Night</em> (2 million copies).
<ul> <li><strong>THE BIG PAYBACK </strong></li> </ul> In 1997, <a href="http://oprahsangelnetwork.org/" target="_blank"><strong>Oprah’s Angel Network</strong></a> launched as a campaign that encouraged viewers to collect spare change, but evolved into a network of giving that extended to 30 countries around the world. To date the organization has built 55 schools in 12 countries; donated over $1 million of supplies to 18,000 South African children; relocated more than 1,000 Gulf Coast families to their homes after Hurricane Katrina; and awarded grants and scholarships for various causes. Although the charity was shut down last year, Winfrey continues to operate two private philanthropy organizations—the Oprah Winfrey Foundation and the <a href="http://www.oprah.com/entertainment/Oprah-Winfrey-Leadership-Academy-for-Girls" target="_blank"><strong>Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation</strong></a>. According to the <a href="http://philanthropy.com/article/Oprah-Winfrey-Closes-Charity/65685/" target="_blank"><strong>Chronicle of Philanthropy</strong></a>, which ranked Winfrey as <a href="http://philanthropy.com/article/The-Philanthropy-50-2009-Gi/63964/" target="_blank"><strong>No. 25</strong></a> on their annual <a href="http://philanthropy.com/section/Philanthropy-50/370/" target="_blank"><strong>Philanthropy 50</strong></a>, she donated more than $41 million to charity last year.
<ul> <li><strong>THE MIDAS TOUCH </strong></li> </ul> Experts call it “the Oprah Effect.” Just a mention on <em>The Oprah Winfrey Show</em> or in <em>O Magazine</em> has been shown to be game changing for a struggling retailer or modest size small business. CNBC produced an entire <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/29961298/" target="_blank"><strong>segment</strong></a> about the craze, including the success story of Lisa Price and her business Carol’s Daughter, which was catapulted to from $2 million to $20 million in sales after a 2002 feature on <em>Oprah</em>. Similarly, after one of Winfrey’s producers sampled the key lime bundt cake from Fort Lauderdale bakery <a href="http://www.wetakethecake.com/" target="_blank"><strong>We Take the Cake</strong></a> and Oprah mentioned it as one of her “favorite things,” the struggling business was transformed. For two straight weeks after the segment aired, the phone rang around the clock. Sales quickly doubled and the company now makes wedding cakes for hotels that range from $5,000 to $20,000. Forget Midas, Oprah has her own golden touch.
<ul> <li><strong>POLITICAL CLOUT</strong></li> </ul> Did Oprah Winfrey elect President Barack Obama in to the White House? Economists at the University of Maryland conducted a study to assess her impact on the 2008 election and found that the media mogul was responsible for roughly 1,015,559 votes. Winfrey’s support of the then-senator started early on as Obama first appeared on <em>The Oprah Winfrey Show</em> back in 2006 to promote his book, <em>The Audacity of Hope</em>. The following year she held a fundraiser for him at her home in Chicago and attended the Democratic Convention in August 2008. She even joined Obama on the campaign trail in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. With Winfrey as a major endorser, Obama saw the full (Oprah) <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2007/12/08/star-power.html" target="_blank"><strong>effect</strong></a> of her influence.
<ul> <li><strong>SHOW ME THE MONEY</strong></li> </ul> <em>The Oprah Winfrey Show</em> changed the landscape of talk shows and drew millions of viewers in each week, who would linger on for the local news broadcasts, driving up revenue from ad sales. This audience came with a high price tag. According to <em>Broadcasting and Cable</em>, WABC-TV in New York paid $270,000 per week just to carry the show and Chicago’s WLS-TV paid about $225,000 per week. Although average viewership slipped under 7 million in the 2008-2009 season—down 7-percent from the year prior—Winfrey still maintained her status as the No. 1 talk show. While her current audience average is estimated at 6.5 million viewers, generating about $260 million in revenue. Today’s series finale stands as the Super Bowl of talk shows with the asking price for a 30-second ad is <a href="http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/04/12/oprah-finale/" target="_blank"><strong>$1 million</strong></a>.
First let me say, I am not “hatin’ on Oprah”. Her accomplishments are well documented, her “generosity” is well documented as well. She is a better than average actress, and she seems fairly “regular”, considering all things, but…and I know this sounds kind of whack, but when it comes to the Black people as compared to white people, in my opinion, and it may just be me, it seems to me that she’s given white people more breaks and more cars and more perks than she has given blacks. Accuse this observation of being “petty” if you will, but if you’ve really watched her show and the people that she’s actually given “breaks” to..for instance,
Where would Dr. Phil be? He ain’t all that. There’s more than a handful of counselors who could have used the break that O gave Phil, and There’s a ton of black authors who could have used some exposure for their books. I truly admire her for the school that she started in Africa, but with all the cars & fluffy gifts that she’s given away, she could have started an academy in all 50 states. Hey, I know it’s her money….I’m just sayin’.
Again, I know, it’s her money, but start a new network? For what? but anyway, good luck Ms. Winfrey and go on with your bad self.
What are you talking about? You clearly dont watch the Oprah show! Her first break was given to Iyanla Vanzant – a black woman, but she messed up her opportunity because she was impatient. She’s given countless opportunities to blacks including giving 10 million to Morehouse College – an HBCU for men. What have you done lately to better the black community? And you want to know why Oprah didnt start a school here in the U.S.A its because the kids YOU raise are too materialistic and dont care about education. America is the land of opportunity, what you do with that opportunity is soley up to you and this is coming from someone whose been molested, beaten, grew up in the hood, etc., but still managed to go Spelman and graduate school and beyond. How many blacks do you know that have taken advantage of the opportunities given to them? Not a few because if you did know you wouldnt be telling Oprah to do more for blacks when her success and what she’s done speaks for itself. Oh a by the way the former CEO of her network was a black woman, but she couldnt get the ratings up and was fired – I would do the same. Quit telling people how to spend their money on blacks. Is your credit score above an 800? If so, take out a loan and open an academy. Do something instead of worrying about somebody’s pocket size. Last, you are “hatin”. End of discussion!
First let me say, I am not “hatin’ on Oprah”. Her accomplishments are well documented, her “generosity” is well documented as well. She is a better than average actress, and she seems fairly “regular”, considering all things, but…and I know this sounds kind of whack, but when it comes to the Black people as compared to white people, in my opinion, and it may just be me, it seems to me that she’s given white people more breaks and more cars and more perks than she has given blacks. Accuse this observation of being “petty” if you will, but if you’ve really watched her show and the people that she’s actually given “breaks” to..for instance,
Where would Dr. Phil be? He ain’t all that. There’s more than a handful of counselors who could have used the break that O gave Phil, and There’s a ton of black authors who could have used some exposure for their books. I truly admire her for the school that she started in Africa, but with all the cars & fluffy gifts that she’s given away, she could have started an academy in all 50 states. Hey, I know it’s her money….I’m just sayin’.
Again, I know, it’s her money, but start a new network? For what? but anyway, good luck Ms. Winfrey and go on with your bad self.
What are you talking about? You clearly dont watch the Oprah show! Her first break was given to Iyanla Vanzant – a black woman, but she messed up her opportunity because she was impatient. She’s given countless opportunities to blacks including giving 10 million to Morehouse College – an HBCU for men. What have you done lately to better the black community? And you want to know why Oprah didnt start a school here in the U.S.A its because the kids YOU raise are too materialistic and dont care about education. America is the land of opportunity, what you do with that opportunity is soley up to you and this is coming from someone whose been molested, beaten, grew up in the hood, etc., but still managed to go Spelman and graduate school and beyond. How many blacks do you know that have taken advantage of the opportunities given to them? Not a few because if you did know you wouldnt be telling Oprah to do more for blacks when her success and what she’s done speaks for itself. Oh a by the way the former CEO of her network was a black woman, but she couldnt get the ratings up and was fired – I would do the same. Quit telling people how to spend their money on blacks. Is your credit score above an 800? If so, take out a loan and open an academy. Do something instead of worrying about somebody’s pocket size. Last, you are “hatin”. End of discussion!
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