Credit: Michelly Rall/Getty Images.

Oprah Winfrey crossed the line when she promoted her new interview show on Twitter Sunday night. As a new episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter" started on OWN, the talk show queen tweeted to her followers, "Every 1 who can please turn to OWN especially if u have a Neilsen [sic] box." Later, she posted a similar message, saying "Commercial Grammy people..u can turn to OWN."

Nielsen, the company that tracks TV ratings, believes her first tweet may be a violation of its policy against openly lobbying Nielsen box owners to watch a specific show or network. Winfrey told the New York Times in a statement that she's removed the tweet from her feed at Nielsen's request, adding, "I intended no harm and apologize for the reference."

Nielsen will place an asterisk next to the ratings for "Oprah's Next Chapter" to reflect "possible biasing effect."