Thirty of the biggest names in
television, print and the Internet--with a few surprises.
While ratings have slipped over the
years, Winfrey's syndicated chat fest is still considered the
most important show to promote a person, book, product or idea. The
"Oprah effect," could even be said to have helped Barack
Obama get to the White House; it certainly didn't hurt. The
list of others who owe their careers to Winfrey--Dr. Mehmet Oz,
Rachael Ray, Dr. Phil, Marianne Williamson, Gayle King and Nate
Berkus to name a few--is a long and impressive one. Winfrey also
helms a Sirius XM satellite radio show, a
successful magazine and a cable network.
In Pictures: The Most Influential Women In
Media
Winfrey pocketed $275 million last year, far more than any other
woman on the list. Ellen DeGeneres comes in a distant second in
earnings with $35 million; Tyra Banks third with $23 million.
But earning power alone does not
determine who's on the list or her position. The Most
Influential Women in Media were ranked in four categories
determining their influence: audience, press mentions, earnings and
social media outreach (followers on Twitter and friends on
Facebook).
After Winfrey, the top five is rounded
out by Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra
Banks.
Sawyer, after almost four decades in
front of the camera, is more influential than ever. Sawyer reaches
a daily audience with her gig as co-host of Good Morning,
America, but her prime-time specials are what routinely
attract over 10 million viewers and keep her at the seat of power:
On ABC's Primetime she interviewed
President Obama extensively on his health care plan, from the White
House.
Walters' influence comes in much the
same form as Sawyer's. While The View
reaches a comparatively small morning audience, her
specials--including Most 
Ellen DeGeneres' talk show audience
is half that of Oprah's. However, her earnings and enormous
social media following (more than anyone on the list) pushed her to
No. 4. Tyra Banks has the advantage of two hit TV shows: her
girl-talk chat show and America's Next Top
Model, which continues to get pretty ratings for the CW
Network. Banks, like all of those in the top five, has leveraged
social media and has a large online following.
Among the surprises on the list: Blogger
Heather B. Armstrong (No. 26), whose earnings were small compared
with the others on the list but whose enormous social media
presence (behind only Ellen, Oprah, Rachael Ray and Rachel Maddow)
pushed her above more well-known names like Maria Bartiromo and
Soledad O'Brien. Conversely, NBC's Andrea Mitchell's
(No. 30) lack of social networking counted against her.
Methodology
The Most Influential
Women in Media is based on money, fame, audience and power. Money
is determined by an estimation of earnings from approximately July
2008 to July 2009. Audience is determined by average Nielsen Media
Research numbers for television ratings and net traffic for the
past 12 months. Fame and influence is determined by overall
mentions on Factiva and by social media outreach, or the amount of
followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook.
In Pictures: The Most Influential Women In
Media
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