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| Oprah Winfrey talks as she is surrounded by Kristin Chenoweth, left, Gayle King, Tyler Perry and Maria Shriver, right, during a star-studded double-taping of "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular," Tuesday, May 17, 2011, in Chicago. |
Media queen Oprah Winfrey is taping her final shows, and is ready to move on to her next big venture - the Oprah Winfrey Network. But there are some signs that her legion of fans may not be following her.
13,000 fans were lined up at Chicago's United Center to be a part of history - two of the final Oprah Winfrey shows taping.
Chad Crego, Oprah Winfrey fan, said, "No matter what part of the world you are from, there's something about Oprah you can connect with and that's always meant a lot to me."
Sandra Bennett, Oprah Winfrey fan, said, "It was lovely. It was a lovely mother's day gift to be able to tell my mom I got her tickets."
Faith Bennett, Oprah Winfrey fan, said, "After years and years of trying."
And it has been years - 25 to be exact.
Making her 4,559th appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, please welcome Oprah!
The guest list for the farewell shows was filled with A list stars- including Michael Jordan, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks, actor, said, "Oprah Winfrey, today you are surrounded by nothing but love."
But so far that love has not translated into ratings at her cable channel - The Oprah Winfrey Network. And that will be Oprah's next challenge:
Horizon Media's Brad Adgate:
Brad Adgate, senior vice president of Horizon Media, said, "She's going to focus entirely on this new network and she's going to know what's working and what' s not working and again her name's on the network. This is not the- she's been you know- she wrote the book on how to brand yourself that others have copied but nothing's like the original and I think you are going to see you know ratings start to turn around."
Producers are keeping mum about the content of the very final original show - set to air on May 25th.
(CNTV May 20, 2011)
