November 20, 2009

By By Alex Ben Block, Hollywood Reporter

Oprah Winfrey will announce on her show today (Nov. 20) that she will end her daily talk show Sept. 9, 2011, after 25 years on the air.

This is anything but a retirement. Winfrey will shift her efforts to OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which she owns with Discovery Communications. The cable network expects to bow at the end of next year.

"If you think the last quarter-century has been something, then 'don't touch that dial' as together we plan to make history in the next 20 months and beyond," Tim Bennett, president of Winfrey's Harpo Prods., wrote Thursday in a letter to employees.

Although the announcement had been anticipated, it is a blow to local TV stations that have counted on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" for high ratings, usually as a lead-in to local news programs. Ratings for "Oprah" have drifted downward during the past few years and posted an all-time low in June, but the CBS-syndicated talker remains the king of afternoon TV in most markets.

The show has averaged a 5.4 household rating this season, which translates to 7.3 million viewers daily. It also scores a strong 3.0 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic. That's down 35% among women in total households compared with five years ago and off 45% in the 25-45 female demo, according to David Scardino, entertainment specialist at ad agency RPA.

Although "Oprah" isn't the highest-rated syndie show -- a title held by "Wheel of Fortune," with 10 million daily viewers -- it's well above anything else in daytime, though it recently finished behind courtroom show "Judge Judy."

The announcement will come at the end of a big week for "Oprah," which nabbed its best ratings in two years Monday when Winfrey interviewed Sarah Palin.

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