Sirius XM satellite radio has reportedly given the Oprah Channel the boot effective January 1. The station, which came on to the scene with plenty of hype back in 2006, reportedly had a $55 million inked agreement that astounded the radio universe at the time. The astronomical deal was for a three-year period, where the talk show diva Oprah Winfrey (pictured) would link her famous name to the channel and personally provide an hour of programming per week, according to the New York Daily News.
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Programmed by Winfrey’s Harpo Productions radio division, the channel and originally named “Oprah and Friends,” the program offered an array of original programming on various topics like current events, self-improvement, and health/nutrition/lifestyle.
A host of Winfrey’s famous friends, such as TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, fitness expert Bob Greene, spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson, home design expert Nate Berkus, and best bud Gayle King, would often pepper the station lineup with their own show contributions.
Oprah Channel’s off-air announcement was only recently published with the following statement:
“Harpo Radio and Sirius XM have announced that the production of Oprah Radio content on Sirius XM ended effective Jan. 1. Since its launch, the channel has provided informative and uplifting daily programming for Sirius XM listeners who are striving to live their best lives.”
As to exactly what took place behind the scenes to make Sirius XM pull the plug on their once-expected cash cow, mum’s the word since the radio company reportedly does not publicly release such data.
