Talk about Oprah Winfrey’s magazine started early,
perhaps appropriate for a magazine featuring an award
winning talk show host. As early as 26 August 1999 the New
York Times began enticing future readers with announcements
of the major players at a then-unnamed magazine flaunting
the Oprah Winfrey brand. Media watchers from Advertising Age
to Mediaweek heralded the coming of O, The Oprah Magazine in
the months prior to the magazine hitting newsstands in May/June
2000 (Granatstein, 2000; Kerwin, 2000; Kuczynski, 2000,
January 3 and April 3).
And when the debut issue finally arrived in mid-April 2000,
newsstands struggled to keep the magazine in stock. Within
weeks the magazine sold 1.6 million copies, a figure
including a second press run (O’Leary, 2001; Gonser, 2001).
Within six months O, The Oprah Magazine was a monthly in a
rapid upgrade from the original bi-monthly launch planned by
partner Hearst Magazines (Gonser, 2001; Kuczynski, 2000,
January 3). In the same time period O, The Oprah Magazine
outsold proven titles In Style, Self, Glamour and Vogue as
well as sister Hearst magazines Good Housekeeping, Harper’s
Bazaar and Victoria (O’ Leary, 2001) and weathered its first
lawsuit (Liptak, 2001). And magazine publisher Gruner and
Jahr USA, looking to cash in on O, The Oprah Magazine’s
success, gave McCall’s readers Rosie. Gruner and Jahr pinned
hopes to the appeal of daytime talk show host/actress Rosie
O’Donnell to sell magazines in the same way talk show host/actress
Oprah Winfrey did.
It
is nearly impossible to talk about book clubs today without
mentioning the woman who has single-handedly created a
national reading phenomenon.
In one word: Oprah. Her book club has turned struggling
authors into household names overnight and propelled dozens
of titles to the top of the bestseller list.
Oprah Winfrey started her book club on her show in 1996.
While a large portion of her selections have been
contemporary novels, she has recently begun featuring books
regarded as "classics" by authors such as John Steinbeck and
Leo Tolstoy.
Who is Oprah?
History of Oprah Winfrey Show
Oprah Winfrey came from a humble background to
become one of America's most influential women. Winfrey has
amassed a great fortune through her media and publishing
interests and uses her fame and wealth to positively
influence the lives of people in need.
Born Orpah (after a character from the Bible) Winfrey on
January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi - USA, but now
goes by the name of Oprah. At a young age Winfrey's parents
separated and sent her to live with grandparents in very
poor surroundings until the age of 6 when she moved to live
with her mother. She was consequently se-xually mol-ested by
male relatives at a young age and endured the hardship up
until she was 14 when Winfrey moved to live with her father
in Nashville Tennessee.
Living with her father did not eliminate her problems even
though he was loving (yet strict) towards her. Winfrey
struggled with dr-ugs and rebellious behavior and lost a
baby after giving birth to it prematurely. Although her wild
behavior conflicted with her father's strict rules and high
standards she eventually began to settle after being awarded
a University Scholarship.
In
1984, Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk
show, AM Chicago, which became the number one talk show just
one month after she began. In less than a year, the show
expanded to one hour and was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show.
In 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show entered national syndication
and has remained the number one talk show for fifteen
consecutive seasons**, receiving 34 Emmy Awards. Oprah
produces and hosts The Oprah Winfrey Show through Harpo
Productions. It is seen by 26 million viewers a week in the
United States*, broadcast in 106 countries and is the
highest-rated talk show in television history.
