Posted on 01/28/2006 3:52:37 PM PST by Anti-Bubba182
CHICAGO Jan 28, 2006 — Oprah Winfrey is not just one of the most popular talk show hosts in history, she is the woman behind a brand including her production company, magazine and book club that has the power to influence millions.
Analysts say that when Winfrey confronted disgraced author James Frey on her show Thursday, her motive wasn't only about bringing the truth to light, it was about protecting that brand.[snip]
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According to Forbes, the 51-year-old Winfrey is worth an estimated $1.1 billion. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" alone reportedly pulls in about $300 million a year.[snip]
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But at least one media watcher said he felt that Winfrey's public about-face on Frey was too little, too late.
"Oprah has been in such a unique position that it takes more than just her performance (Thursday) to undo the damage that she did with Frey's book," said Paul Levinson, chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in New York.
"When the story broke, she, again, chose to support Frey," Levinson said. "Loyalty is important, but she should have loyalty to her viewers and to the people who look up to her. That's more important than loyalty to this author."
Many analysts said they felt the Frey flap would eventually blow over and leave Oprah's brand intact.
"I think her brand was so overwhelmingly powerful that this was a little blip," Ries said. "I think she could've gotten away without doing it. It's a true testament to the brilliance of Oprah that she did it."
CHICAGO Jan 28, 2006 — Oprah Winfrey is not just one of the most popular talk show hosts in history, she is the woman behind a brand including her production company, magazine and book club that has the power to influence millions (of morons).
I am no expert, but I have a hard time believing Oprah's value at 1.1 billion, I bet she is worth WAY more than that, the way she controls her life, image..you know she has her money working double time...
The people who watch Oprah are already too stupid to care. She's got nothing to worry about.
As H.L. Mencken said, " No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
They certainly aren't critical viewers, but they did go off after the revelations about the lies in the book got big play.
I wish I were as stupid as Oprah is.
Doesn't she have her own line of bon-bons? Or was that Peggy Bundy? Slugs and morons watch that show.
She's only 51 and it seems like she's been around forever. How many more years do we have to put up with her?
Advertisers like morons, thus Oprah's wealth.
Oprah has a fiducial responsibility to protect the brand. She fails, and tons of other folks get hurt. It just ain't a simple matter in many of these things.
Figure another ten to twenty on TV, then years more as an entertainment mogul running her companies.
People who rely on Oprah to tell them which books to read are too stupid to breathe.
What's funny to me is that they had to consult "experts" to figure this out.
I don't watch her, never liked her, think she's ugly.
I'm tired of hearing her lie about Katrina. Just this week she blamed the federal gov't for not spending the money to reinforce the levies. She refuses to believe that the state gov't, Blanco and Nagin ignored the work that need to be done, and blew the money on pet projects. I refuse to believe that Oprah is truly intelligent.
Remember how she originally came out in favor of the Iraq War? Then when her liberal buddies started attacking her she reversed course. She cares about money; not principle.
Analysts say that when Winfrey confronted disgraced author James Frey Bill Clinton on her show Thursday, her motive wasn't only about bringing the truth to light, it was about protecting that brand.
The rest of the media is still after her head.
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