“After much prayer and months of careful thought, I’ve decided that next season, season 25 will be the last,” said Winfrey who delivered her farewell speech through a stream of tears. “These years with you have enriched my life beyond all measure.”
On September 8, 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show went live with its premiere broadcast from Chicago and has gone on to become the longest-running daytime television talk show in the United States. Time Magazine included it in a shortlist of the best television series of the 20 th century in 1998 and it made the top 50 in TV Guide’s countdown of the greatest American television shows of all time.
Rumors have been circulating during the last several weeks that the show is ending because of declining ratings, however Winfrey, offered this explanation instead, “I love this show. This show has been my life and I love it enough to know when it’s time to say goodbye. Twenty-five feels right in my bones and right in my spirit so I hope you will take this eighteen-month ride with me.”
As one of the most influential, unmarried women in America, Winfrey’s impact on pop culture, philanthropy, social advocacy, books, women and the often unspoken issues that affect their lives is legendary. Whether you’re a die hard fan or an occasional viewer, you cannot be a woman in North America and not know who Oprah Winfrey is and what her show represents. Oprah is hands down the most powerful woman in media, an irreplaceable life force who has changed the landscape of television and greatly impacted women’s lives.
Oprah described her show and the opportunities it created as a “yellow brick road of blessings”. Those blessings were ours. It’s been a privilege to follow her on the journey.
What will weekday afternoons (or evenings for that matter) look like without Oprah? How has The Oprah Winfrey Show made a difference in your life?
