Oprah Ends Show at 'Exact Right Time'

Chicago Sun-Times

Oprah Winfrey ended this morning's show by telling her loyal audience in her own words that the wildly successful "Oprah Winfrey Show" will end in 2011.

"Twenty five years feels right in my bones and right in my spirit," she told her audience, at times tearing up during the announcement. "It is the exact right time."

Winfrey acknowledged her loyal fan base, saying "For some of you long time Oprah viewers you have literally grown up with me. You have your family and you raised your children and you left a spot for me in your morning and afternoon."

This "has brought me the greatest joy I have ever known," she said.

Harpo, Inc. released a statement Thursday that Winfrey would discuss with her audience her decision to end the talk show Friday.

Winfrey's announcement capped a week of shows -- including her highest rated show since 2007 -- that were highly typical of the diverse, lady-centered themes that have made the show a success. More...

Chicago Reacts to Oprah's Departure

Chicago Tribune

As news spread that Oprah Winfrey planned to retire her Chicago-based syndicated show, locals debated what the talk queen's absence will mean.

"Oprah is huge in Chicago," said candy store worker Sara Crane. "I think it'd be more detrimental if she left Chicago and went to a different city. I think people would be offended.

But, she added, "People will support anything Oprah does. She could run for president and probably win."

While details on Winfrey's next move weren't known, it's undeniable that she will be missed if she leaves town. She is not just one of Chicago's most famous icons, but also one of the most famous people on the planet.

Shir Sade, who said Oprah is just as big in Sade's native Israel, can't imagine morning television without her.

"She's like an anchor, something that you know you're going to see on TV. You cannot even imagine that she's going to retire," she said. More...

Oprah Moves and TV Landscape Quakes

The Wrap

If this were just about a talk show host and her viewers, there'd be little more to say about the news beyond "So long, 'Oprah Winfrey Show'...roll highlight reel."

But it's never been just about Oprah and her viewers.

It's about the TV affiliates who absolutely count on her ratings for ad sales and local newscast lead-in. It's about the unending parade of "made" authors (and their publishers) who otherwise don't stand a chance of selling books. It's about Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and whoever was going to be the next phenomenally successful spinoff franchise (Nate Berkus, you'll get right to work, if you have any sense).

It's about the radioactive celebs, disgraced religious leaders and other public pariahs who will always need a friendly place for image reconstruction. And lately, it's even been about national politics.

For each of these, let's just clear up one thing right away: There is no replacement for Oprah Winfrey.

Yes, ratings for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" have been in alarming decline of late. But in reality, the show has been sliding on the same steeply tilted plane to which all of broadcast television now clings. Oprah's still the queen. More...

Fire Pulls Fort Worth Station Off the Air

The Dallas Morning News

An electrical fire at the Fort Worth studio of KXAS-TV (Channel 5) broke out last night, interrupting the 10 p.m. broadcast.

The one-alarm blaze caused all personnel to evacuate, but no injuries were reported.

The building was released back to Channel 5 personnel around 11:45 p.m., said Tim Hardeman, a Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman.

Damages are estimated at $405,000, but systems are mostly operational, according to an NBC 5 report.

Brian Hocker, vice president of programming, said the fire caused personnel to shut down power during the 10 p.m. newscast, and the station was off the air for about three hours.

The rest of the newscast and the majority of NBC's late-night lineup did not air. More...

After 25 Years, New York Reporter Set to Retire

Daily News

Since 1996, Tappy Phillips has made people squirm when she showed up, camera in tow, to right a wrongdoing on WABC/Ch. 7's "7 on Your Side" segments.

Tonight, Phillips will feel like she's on the hot seat when, after 25 years reporting for Ch. 7, she says goodbye on the 11 p.m. news.

"I'm not really comfortable with accolades and tributes," Phillips said yesterday. "I understand the station wants to do something; it's not something I'll enjoy."

The decision to leave is all hers. A moving company is packing up her place in New York and she's heading to her home in Delaware, which sits next to a golf course.

"She is a great reporter. She is tenacious, she is focused, she is hardworking, she is intelligent," said Ch. 7 news director Kenny Plotnik. More...

Fox Sports Quietly Rolls Out a Dozen Local Sites

paidContent

While ESPN and Comcast have been grabbing headlines for their online local sports expansions, Fox Sports Net has been rolling out the soft launch of a dozen local sites over the past couple of weeks. So quietly that it took an alert reader to clue me in and, thanks to Steve, paidContent apparently is the first to report it. But the efforts are on very different scales. For instance, though Fox Sports confirms it has added some staff for the sites, nothing is being said about hiring beat writers for each team or the like. And while ESPN and Comcast Sports so far are concentrating on a few key cities, Fox Sports has pushed out a fresh template with new features for each owned-and-operated RSN.

Fox Sports spokesman Chris Bellitti said the group's plans aren't a reaction: "Our plans were underway long before ESPN rolled out their sites. Our goal is to be the best at serving local sports fans and a strong online platform helps us achieve that."

Each of the sites reports up to the RSN GMs, with Clark Pierce, VP-emerging technologies for Fox Sports Networks, engineering the group-wide changes. More...

Russert's Legacy Displayed at Newseum Exhibit

Politico

He may be gone, but the late Tim Russert-- who made "Meet the Press" a Sunday ratings champ -- still looms large over his Sunday competition.

The Newseum's tribute to Russert, which opens Friday, is a replica of his office--and it sits almost exactly above the studio where his longtime competitor George Stephanopoulos films ABC News' Sunday program "This Week."

Russert died of a heart attack on June 13, 2008, and the museum's reconstruction of his office within NBC's Washington bureau features 500 items, including his desk, which was donated by NBC. Russert's wife, Maureen Orth, and son, Luke, lent many personal items, as well.

Scattered around Russert's cluttered office are books, a cell phone, a bottle of Perrier, newspapers, magazines (The Economist figures prominently), transcripts and research material. Adding more of a personal touch are draft scripts of Russert's 2004 interview with President George W. Bush and handwritten notes from Russert to Sen. Ted Kennedy and current "Meet" host David Gregory. Russert's famous "Florida, Florida, Florida" white board is included, having become a symbol of the frantic news gathering that symbolized election night in 2000. More...

Both Palin and Obama Draw Big Numbers for Fox News

The Swamp

Sarah Palin was box office on FOX News this week - handing Sean Hannity one of his highest-rated shows.

Someone else drew a crowd at FOX this week, too: President Barack Obama.

While Hannity's audience of more than 4 million viewers with the author of "Going Rogue" aboard at the start of her national book tour well exceeded the 2 million-plus turnout that the FOX evening news got with a long-sought Obama interview, both shows were ratings leaders for the No. 1 cable news network:

Hannity's ratings were his second-highest for the year, according to the Nielsen Media Research count, and he beat the network's top-drawing Bill O'Reilly, who had 3.868 million viewers Wednesday night.

Nielsen found that FOX News Channel's Hannity drew 4.2 million viewers with Palin's appearance - far surpassing the competition in the time slot: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, with 957,000 viewers, and CNN's Larry King, with 835,000. More...

With Cablevision Deal, Fox Business Adds 3M Homes

FBN

Cablevision and News Corp.'s FOX Business unveiled an agreement Thursday that will make the business news channel available to more than three million additional households in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The deal takes effect Thursday and lands FBN on Cablevision's channel 106 and in HD on channel 772. Cablevision operates the largest U.S. cable cluster and is in more than 4.7 million households and 600,000 businesses in the New York metropolitan area.

FBN is now available in more than 50 million homes.

"We're pleased to welcome Cablevision as our newest FOX Business affiliate and look forward to providing the essential and up-to-the-minute breaking business news to the greater New York area," Tim Carry, FBN's senior vice president of affiliate relations, said in a statement.

The new agreement will expand FBN's reach into New York's surrounding area, including Long Island, Westchester, Fairfield and Bergen counties. More...

Vivendi CFO: Company Eyeing Exit From NBCU

Reuters

Vivendi could exit from U.S. media group NBCU Universal as it has no intention to be part of the future joint venture being discussed by Comcast and General Electric, its chief financial officer said on Thursday.

Philippe Capron also told the Morgan Stanley Media & Telecoms conference that selling its 20 percent stake in NBCU would give Vivendi "additional financial headroom" after it gained control of Brazil's telecoms operator GVT last week.

"We are not interested in staying onboard a new GE-Comcast ownership of NBCU ... we will exit and it will give us more headroom," Capron said, adding "We are not there yet."

Capron later told Reuters on the sideline of the conference: "We have never been closer to the end of this story."

But Vivendi's board had made no decision on the matter, he said. More...

Shelly Palmer's MediaBytes

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