Word on the street is that Oprah Winfrey has not yet made a decision on moving her syndicated talk show to her new cable network OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). Winfrey’s production company Harpo Inc. said she would make an announcement by the end of the year regarding whether The Oprah Winfrey Show would move from network television in mid-2011. The original report was released by Hollywood entertainment blogger Nikki Finke on Thursday but OWN has declined to comment.

Winfrey is regarded as one of the most influential women in the United States and among the most powerful women in entertainment (as you know) and her talk show is still the top-rated U.S. daytime talk show, averaging 7.1 million viewers this season, according to Nielsen.

Such a move would be a major blow to CBS Corp’s CBS Television Distribution arm, which syndicates the show, and Walt Disney Co’s ABC’s owned and operated TV stations which broadcasts the daytime favorite.

The decision is up to Oprah so we’ll just have to wait and see. I would say that her ratings might be affected because everyone doesn’t have cable but then again Oprah can afford to buy cable for all of her fans so they won’t miss her show if she decided to move. That’s a bit of a stretch but we know she’ll be OK. She’s like the Grand Wizard of all things wonderful and makes anything happen when she puts her mind to it.

The launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network, is a joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. OWN has been delayed from its original 2009 start date but once up and running, it will be available in more than 70 million homes.

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TAGS: Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show

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