• The Oprah Winfrey Show was the top-rated talk show for the 16th year
• O, The Oprah Magazine has grown from 1.3 million circulation in January, 2001, to 2 million today
PHOTO BY SPENCER PLATT/NEWSMAKERS/GETTY IMAGES
In the aftermath of September 11, Oprah Winfrey didn't miss a beat. The Queen of Talk quickly adapted, changing her regularly scheduled programming on The Oprah Winfrey Show to a series--"America Under Attack"--exploring tough issues that gripped the nation, including "How to Talk to Kids" and "Is War the Only Answer?"
During the week of Sept. 17, the first week for which Nielsen Media Research collected data after the attacks, the talk show ranked No. 3 among syndicated television programs--one slot better than the previous year's ranking during the same week.
Later, the head of Harpo Inc. flew to New York to preside over an interfaith ceremony at Yankee Stadium. At its conclusion, she told the mourning crowd of 20,000: "I believe when you lose a loved one, you gain an angel whose name you know."
Oprah Winfrey, 47, is in the business of soothing souls. That magic is what has kept her program at the top of the talk biz in 2001--a perch it has held for 16 consecutive seasons. The show generates more than $300 million in annual revenues and reaches 26 million viewers in the U.S. each week--plus millions more in 106 international markets. This season's show, which started in September, is leading its closest daytime talk competitor, Live with Regis and Kelly, hosted by Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, by 66%.
Sure, Winfrey sometimes misreads her audience--the film Beloved, which she starred in and produced, flopped at the box office. But disappointments are few. Winfrey, a hands-on manager if there ever was one, has kept her wildly successful O, The Oprah Magazine soaring even in a dismal economy. Guaranteed circulation has grown from 1.3 million in January, 2001, to 2 million today. The magazine's mix of consumerism and self-empowerment resonates. And her "Live Your Best Life Tour," a series of four day-long seminars in June, offered participants a mix of spiritual encouragement and down-home wisdom. Even at $185 a ticket, events sold out in hours. After all this time, people still can't get enough of Oprah.
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Copyright 2002 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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