US talk show queen Oprah to end show in 2011
Posted: 20 November 2009 0951 hrs

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CHICAGO : US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey will end her influential daytime show in 2011, her production company said Thursday, amid reports she wanted to concentrate on the launch of her own TV channel.

After more than two decades on the air, Winfrey's talk show has become a cultural phenomenon in the United States.

Don Halcombe, a spokesman for Harpo Productions, declined to comment on why Winfrey had made the decision.

"She's going to talk about it on the show tomorrow," he told AFP.

The New York Times reported that Winfrey, who has become something of an entertainment mogul in the US, will be ending the syndicated television programme in order to give her full attention to the launch of her own channel.

OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a joint venture between Winfrey and Discovery Communications, was originally scheduled to air in 2010, but getting the cable channel launched has proved "challenging" due to "management turnover and an uncertain advertising climate," the Times reported.

- AFP/il