[Anita1]

In a statement issued this afternoon, however, Harpo responded: "While David Zaslav's comments are true that Oprah's current contract to produce The Oprah Winfrey Show will expire in 2011, she has not made a final decision as to whether she will continue her show in syndication beyond that," says Lisa Halliday, chief spokesperson for Harpo Productions, Inc.

In fact, a clause existed in her current contract that would have let the talk-show queen end the show in 2010, but she recently chose to extend the show’s run through the contract’s full term.

Winfrey is well known for waffling over the show’s fate.

In 1997, she said she was planning to retire, but then renewed her contract through 2002. In 2002, she said she would depart in 2006 – the show’s 20th anniversary year – but in 2004 she ended up re-upping through 2011, after riding a wave of high ratings and a revamped program in 2003.

If Winfrey does end up shutting down Oprah, it could be painful for TV stations – particularly ABC’s owned stations, which make up the show’s core station group – that use the show to lead in to local news programs. On the other hand, Oprah’s ratings have been declining – this year they are down 14% -- while the show’s license fees remain high, an expensive combination for stations.

CTD, of course, wants the show to continue: “We are thrilled that The Oprah Winfrey Show will continue production through the 2010 – 2011 season, its 25th year on the air. We are grateful to Ms. Winfrey, her producers and all of our affiliates who remain committed to bringing viewers this exceptional series. We would certainly welcome and hope that The Oprah Winfrey Show would continue in syndication beyond that, but that is a decision only Ms. Winfrey will be making,” said a CTD spokesperson in a statement.

[Anita1]

Is THIS pandering or what?

“CTD, of course, wants the show to continue: “We are thrilled that The Oprah Winfrey Show will continue production through the 2010 – 2011 season, its 25th year on the air. We are grateful to Ms. Winfrey, her producers and all of our affiliates who remain committed to bringing viewers this exceptional series. We would certainly welcome and hope that The Oprah Winfrey Show would continue in syndication beyond that, but that is a decision only Ms. Winfrey will be making,” said a CTD spokesperson in a statement.”

Makes me sick!!

[Slump Tester]

Tax the HELL out of her - she wanted it for the rest of us!

[truthguy]

I'm probably one of the last people in the US not to have seen the Oprah Show. I keep hearing about her show on blogs on the Internet and other places. Since a have a regular job I'm not home in the daytime so I'm not able to watch live show (although I think the shows are taped). So I finally decided to see what the thing is all about. I taped the show every day for two weeks and watched at night. Boy the dumbing down of America has really happened. This is one of the worst interview shows I've ever seen. This woman is a TERRIBLE interviewer. She a fat ugly cow. She isn't smart. The audience is stupid as well. I'm glad Oprah is going off the air. This show is a piece of *hit.

[hershey]

Oh, boy, Oprah is evolving into Geobbels. Whoopie.

[Heartland Mom]

Good riddance, you hypocritical witch.

[zwerni]

is this so she can work on getting Hussein re-elected in 2012 ??

[The Ghost of Rudy McRomney]

A liar and a racist.

[Lancey Howard]

'Oprah Show' Leaving Syndication In 2011 Not Final

Of course it's not "final". Oprah will need her TV vehicle to help get that steaming pantload Obama re-elected.

[curth]

Any chance we can speed it up to next week? Retire now, we won’t miss you. Honest to God.

BTW, since her ratings are down 14%, it looks like a lot of people are keeping their word about boycotting the bloated racists sponsors because of her refusal to interview Sarah Palin. Good job. We need to do this to a few other members of the biased media.