OPINION: Looking For A Leader In A Post-Oprah Landscape
From NYTimes.com:
There is no single replacement for Oprah Winfrey.
That is not necessarily a statement about the dominance of her 23-year-old television institution, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Rather, it is the reality of television syndication.
As Ms. Winfrey prepares to leave the broadcast airwaves in two years, a stable of talk shows are in competition to fill her time slot on more than 200 stations across the country. Individual stations are bound to place differing bets, drastically reshaping the daytime TV landscape.
As with NBC and Jay Leno earlier this year, the television chess board is being rearranged by a talk show host. Ms. Winfrey’s departure could even affect the ratings for the network evening newscasts. “All of a sudden, there are so many moving pieces,” Bill Carroll, who recommends syndicated shows to stations for the Katz Television Group, said on Friday.
Even before Ms. Winfrey announced on Friday that 2011 would be, as she put it, the “exact right time” to step off her broadcast stage, TV executives were jostling on behalf ofEllen DeGeneres, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Phil McGraw and other hosts who aim to benefit from the syndication shake-up.
Analysts say that Ms. DeGeneres and Dr. Oz, in particular, stand to gain, because their deals with stations will come up for renewal at the same time that Ms. Winfrey intends to depart. Aspiring hosts could emerge as well. “I’m sure there are a number of people calling their agents today and saying, ‘I think I could be the next Oprah,’ ” Mr. Carroll said.
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While we have quite a bit of time before Oprah’s final departure from national network television, many are already feeling the loss. Oprah has endeared herself to millions of viewers – sharing her life with us, becoming a friend who we trusted, and a mentor from whom we learned. She’s intelligent, warm, honest, caring and giving. I shudder to think who will attempt to fill Oprah’s very big and capable shoes.
Dr. Oz has benefited from intimate tutelage from the Mistress of Talk herself. He brings similar warmth and caring to his topical subjects; however because his current talk show is vertical is scope, covering health and beauty specifically, he does not have the platform to touch as many areas as Oprah. Dr. Phil has a similar dilemma; he is boxed into discussing psychological issues that impact families and individuals. Ellen’s current format seems to focus more on entertainment, designed with a similar format of the old talk shows like Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson. Oprah’s show is horizontal with coverage of a broad range of topics, including health, beauty, politics, entertainment, sports, and news. A host would have to be an avid reader with excellent comprehension of current events. This takes extraordinary talent.
Tyra or Wendy Williams simply lack the intelligence, knowledge, fortitude or journalistic integrity to discuss profound topics, or to address political issues with analytical questions that unveil, reveal and expose deeper interpretations; nothing but the shallow can be expected from these hosts, and only the youngest audience demographic would be even slightly satisfied with either’s vacuous offerings.
Hopefully, someone new will emerge. Oprah was an unknown when she first debut on the national scene. With time, America and the world came to love and trust her.
I wish Ms. O well with her future endeavors. Although I already know that whatever she touches will turn to gold. I am looking forward to seeing what Oprah has planned for her own network. Imagine that – an African-American woman from the back woods of the south, starting out with very meager beginnings and enduring abusive relationships, incest and molestation – now owns her own national network. This is what I so love about Oprah. Her story whispers to every child’s soul: believe in yourself. You can do it – just believe! Congratulations, Ms. O.