Oprah leaving? Report says yes, history says maybe

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: Oprah leaving? Report says yes, history says maybe : Hollywood online columnist says Winfrey wants out to start her own cable channel : Phil Rosenthal : Tribune Media : November 6, 2009 : If one can't yet set a watch by the frequency of reports that Oprah Winfrey is poised to give up her top-rated syndicated talk show, it's almost possible to mark one's calendar by it. : The latest frenzy over whether Life as We Know It is at risk erupted Thursday with an online report by Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood site. Winfrey's people had to issue a statement to the effect that nothing has been decided until Winfrey herself says so. : This was virtually the same response it had one year ago this week to virtually the same speculation. : Then, as now, CBS Television Distribution, Oprah's syndicator, followed with its own statement essentially saying that naturally it would love for Winfrey to stick around, but it's her decision. : Although debate raged over whether there was substance to the new report, it's probably worth remembering that it will be true sooner or later. If not today, then someday. Deal with it however you see fit. Maybe ask yourself: What would Oprah do? Then, call your best friend Gayle to commiserate. : What we know is this: Winfrey's contract to do her Chicago-based syndicated gabfest runs out after the 2010-11 season. Both her decision on whether to renew and the latest projected launch date for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, her long-delayed cable collaboration with Discovery Networks, are supposed to be announced by year's end. : When OWN was first announced, way back in January 2008, it was slated for debut in the second half of this year in 70 million homes on what is now the Discovery Health Network. But, alas, Discovery Health is still around, and will be until at least next summer. : Finke's report said continuing as a syndicated juggernaut would further postpone the network, possibly endangering it altogether, although no one has said that publicly. Finke also said the plan was for Winfrey to quit her syndicated Chicago talk show in favor of a new show, probably in Los Angeles, for OWN. : This suggests that Winfrey, who went all the way to Copenhagen a little more than a month ago to spend days among International Olympic Committee glad-handers singing the praises of Chicago as part of the city's effort to land the 2016 games, might now be of a mind to get out of town five years before the world would have arrived here on her recommendation. : Guess when the boys from Brazil were ripping on Chicago over cocktails at the IOC meeting, they were very persuasive. : Would Los Angeles let her block off Wilshire Boulevard for days just so she could have a televised block party? Doubtful, although given typical L.A. traffic conditions, it's also possible no one would notice if cars were gridlocked that long. : You may not care for, or even about, Oprah. But her company, Harpo Inc., had 453 local employees as of the end of 2008. It's a safe bet not all of them will move to the Left Coast if Winfrey relocates there. Even if she offers to take them all with her, a published report mentioning the possibility of getting stuck in their car for days on Wilshire Boulevard might discourage them. : (Honestly, I lived in L.A. for more than a decade and spent less than six years in my car. Someone from Rio, I think, must be badmouthing the traffic on Wilshire.) : If any of this actually happens, know who's going to be most upset, not counting the relatives who plan to sleep on your couch if and when they finally get tickets for an Oprah taping and don't know anyone in L.A.? : Diane Sawyer. : Sawyer has been a good soldier at ABC News and is about to get her due, taking over as anchor of "World News" from Charlie Gibson, who's retiring next month. : Most of Winfrey's biggest stations are aligned with ABC. Although her show airs at 9 a.m. weekdays on Chicago's WLS-Ch. 7, the majority air it as a lead-in to late afternoon local news. Her success has boosted their ratings, and the local newscasts' popularity have, in turn, long helped ABC's "World News." : Sawyer stands to be hurt as much as anyone if Winfrey walks from syndication in mid-2011. : Unless Sawyer, or someone of that caliber, would like to replace her. : : Raise a chair to this: Whatever happens with Oprah, it's likely Jerry Springer, Maury Povich and Steve Wilkos will remain on daytime TV at least another two years, and they have Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s broadcasting division to thank for it. : Tribune has renewed its syndication deal with NBC Universal to air the trio on the majority of its 23 TV stations. The deal enables the programs to remain economically viable. NBC Universal had no comment.

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