Oprah Desperate? Talk Show Queen Issues Rare Apology
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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.”
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I wonder how much Oprah would be willing to pay someone with a Nielsen box to watch her show?
Posted by: Duude | February 14, 2012, 11:28 am 11:28 am
Ever notice that Oprah has never had a magazine printed, show broadcast, or network initiated without her name and/or picture on it. She is the most important thing in her life. How much self gratification can one person need? A little more hunility and focus on others will do her good….It is OK, no it is GREAT to apologize once in a while!
Posted by: Mike | February 14, 2012, 12:20 pm 12:20 pm
While Oprah’s tweet may have been ill advised, her Character has been a proven commodity for many years. I am wondering how much scrutiny your life could take? Ease up…not world hunger folks…a mistake made, apologized for, and now forgiven, and let’s move on….
Oprah, bring YOUR talk show, new (not reruns) back, air it on Your network, work on some mainstream programming, real news, and your ratings will scurry up!!!
Good Luck…. Your Longtime Fan, Holly
Posted by: Holly Tounsand | February 14, 2012, 1:16 pm 1:16 pm
Oprah is not a selfish person, in my opinion. She does so much good and has helped many people during her career. I’d love to see her talk show again. I miss seeing her, even if I wasn’t an every-day fan.
She came from some rough beginnings and made a name for herself. I think she should be proud of the name, “Oprah.” Her name is her brand!
Posted by: Christy Lanier | February 14, 2012, 1:28 pm 1:28 pm
Oprah forgot that it was the average, everyday person that sat in her audience or watched her show from home. Oprah’s network is on a channel that would require us to purchase additional channels. I cannot afford to watch Oprah. After reading this article, maybe Oprah cannot afford me and my Nielsen family not watching it. Should have thought about it before you sold out Oprah.
Posted by: Linashkam | February 14, 2012, 1:50 pm 1:50 pm
Mike, I sooooooooooooooooooo agree with you. If you’re trying to help better the world, you don’t have to have your name/picture splashed across your every venture/success. We all know who she is. So many celebrities are philanthropic, but don’t need to advertise it like Oprah does. I never watch OWN and never will!
Posted by: Melanie | February 14, 2012, 1:52 pm 1:52 pm
Yes, I agree with the poster above about Oprah being self centered. She put out a magazine that each and every issue had a picture of herself on it. How do her fans not see that as self centered? I’m not sure the magazine is still around and actually didn’t know she had a show still. Maybe a lot of people are like me and didn’t know she had a show. Maybe not being the spotlight was killing her so she pulled that stunt. Just a theory.
Posted by: Michael K | February 14, 2012, 1:57 pm 1:57 pm
Oprah, Who?
Posted by: hopeforchange | February 14, 2012, 2:47 pm 2:47 pm
And your 15 minutes is up.
Posted by: snewsom2997 | February 14, 2012, 3:39 pm 3:39 pm
LOL…YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE ALIVE…DOES IT MATTER IF YOU NEVER WATCH HER SHOW….HMMMM….PROBABLY NOT
Posted by: YOLANDA | February 14, 2012, 3:41 pm 3:41 pm
yolanda, apparently oprah cares or she wouldn’t be schlepping to inflate her ratings.
Posted by: grumpopolis | February 14, 2012, 3:54 pm 3:54 pm
Okra – Isn’t that a vegetable?
Posted by: mike | February 14, 2012, 3:57 pm 3:57 pm
Oprah did a lot of good during her tv show, however all of the things that she gave away were given by the companies – not by her and her own pocket. She is a brand, and her brand moved into an expensive neighborhood, cable tv – not everyone can afford that, and she forgets her roots and where her audience came from. On top of that the OWN network doesn’t have that great of programs – I rarely find anything on her network I would watch. She needs to realize everything has a season, and her season is over. It’s not like she can’t take her money and live comfortably ever after.
Posted by: indepentthinker | February 14, 2012, 4:49 pm 4:49 pm
I couldn’t watch her network if I wanted to. I don’t have cable or satelite. I used to enjoy her show when she was on a regular network.
Posted by: Moonhill | February 14, 2012, 5:02 pm 5:02 pm
Okra – Isn’t that a vegetable?
POSTED BY: MIKE ,—You will turn into one if you watch her show long enough
Posted by: Sarah in Philly | February 14, 2012, 5:10 pm 5:10 pm
I’ve never really been a fan but give credit where it’s due. She is a true success story.
Posted by: dan | February 14, 2012, 5:59 pm 5:59 pm
OWN does not have great programming, repeats over and over, and I have to pay extra to get OWN. When my trial subscription to this cable tier ends, I will not renew it. OWN is not worth watching given the programming being offered. OWN needs to offer viewer current shows that will appeal to the viewers and try to move away from the higher cable tier. Times are tough and most people cannot afford to pay extra for additional cable channels. Many people are lowering the cable tier they view. Who can afford $80+ a month for cable anymore?
Posted by: Dolly | February 14, 2012, 5:59 pm 5:59 pm
It is about time someone told Oprah, she is getting a big fat asterisk.
Posted by: thespoon | February 14, 2012, 6:18 pm 6:18 pm
Yolanda -
Hmmmmm…yeah, I think she does care or she wouldn’t have put out a tweet and then apologize for it. And, I hear that OWN is a big joke with her re-airing the same things over and over. Yolanda, are you a relative of hers – her daughter, maybe?
Posted by: Chris | February 14, 2012, 6:27 pm 6:27 pm
I was an Oprah fan until her road trip across America with Gail. It was then that I realized how completely out of touch she had become from her fan base.
Posted by: steve | February 14, 2012, 6:38 pm 6:38 pm
Oprah, Oprah, Oprah. The “damage” has been done. You are a very smart woman and you knew EXACTLY what you were doing. Shame on you.
Posted by: cindy aubrey | February 14, 2012, 7:11 pm 7:11 pm
I thought it was going to be for jump-starting Obama’s campaign a few years ago…..
Posted by: Logicsgood5 | February 14, 2012, 9:32 pm 9:32 pm
Well, the thing is…she forgot the FIRST rule of celebrity and that is EXPOSURE…when she took herself off of main stream tv and put herself on her own network, she reduced her EXPOSURE…if, for one, don’t have cable, and don’t have time to look her up on the internet…so she lost EXPOSURE…it is something that is very hard to buy…although record labels seem to be able to collude with radio stations and other forms of entertainment to put their not so talented protegees on so everyone will know who they are through EXPOSURE and thus sell records and get the name out…even if they can’t sing….Now, let’s talk Whitney, Whitney COULD sing, so exposure or not she was gonna sell records…Oprah, you need to get more EXPOSURE!
Posted by: Exposure | February 14, 2012, 10:10 pm 10:10 pm
She sounds as desperate as he Chicago buddy Barry Obama..They are both losers.
Posted by: Orin | February 14, 2012, 11:01 pm 11:01 pm
I lost all respect for Oprah years ago when she exited the TX courthouse after her victory in the beef industry lawsuit and stated she had overcome 300 years of oppression. I find her to be a bigot and a male-basher. Her show is not watched in this house!
Posted by: Ed | February 15, 2012, 12:15 am 12:15 am
The real story will be when Gail and her come clean about their real relationship with each other.
Posted by: JustSaying | February 15, 2012, 4:00 pm 4:00 pm
Interesting that both she and Martha Stewart both so wildly overestimated their TV drawing power on purely cable-only channels, not to mention ones so obscure as to not be listed in newpaper TV listings. Hallmark dumped both Martha and her ne’er-do-well daughter’s shows, and OWN is drawing next to no one for any of its programming. While neither woman is in danger of going hungry at any time in the near future, one has to wonder about the quality of research done prior to taking the big leaps into the TV void. Hubris can be a nasty thing!
Posted by: sundevilpeg | February 15, 2012, 6:50 pm 6:50 pm
COME BACK TO CHICAGO OPRAH! COME BACK!
Posted by: Nina | February 16, 2012, 12:56 pm 12:56 pm
Maybe Oprah and Big Al Gore (with his fledging ‘CURRENT’) can get together and salvage something. Big Al now wants to do away with capitalism as we know it because he CANNOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE MONEY! For Pete’s sake — how do you expect a man of his age, and zero experience in capitalism to make an honest living given his past??
Oprah has another problem on her hands now — Rosie. Rosie slipped off the reservation recently making light of small people! Not real smart!! Oprah made a big (literally) mistake in hiring Rosie!
Posted by: GrannyCares | February 16, 2012, 7:51 pm 7:51 pm
She stood to gain and benefit enormously (tax write-offs, lots of publicity, deceiving the public, false perceptions, ego-boosts, etc,) from anything she ever “gave” away. She gives nothing and does nothing … unless she stands to somehow (and in someway) significantly gain and benefit. It’s called classic ‘narcissism’.
It’s classified as a mental-health disorder. If you don’t know this about her, you aren’t watching closely OR you’re unaware of this dysfunctional disorder — narcissism. ALL narcissists have victims — ALL of them. So, think about that.
On another note … ‘the car giveaway’ — the car companies donated those cars in return for being on her show and for free advertising. She didn’t pay for the cars or for the transportation of them to the Studio. Sadly, some of the car recipients had to forfeit the car they just won (nice going “O”) because they didn’t have the few-thousand dollars to cover the sales-tax. They spent their last dime getting to her “All About Me” show.
Secondly, the IRS accountants had informed her on many occasions that if she didn’t donate some of her $$$$$ they’d take the money in the form of taxes. So, she actually had to donate large amounts of her money to avoid more taxes. Either way, whether she donated it OR gave it to ‘Uncle Sam’, she couldn’t keep it for herself … and she chose to donate and use it as a tax write-off … and then tell the world … or is it brag to the world … typical narcissist. If she didn’t donate the $$$$ and instead handed it over to the IRS, she couldn’t have bragged and boasted about her so-called “generosity”.
It’s classic narcissism. She’s not who you think.
I am a wealthy Black women who knows the truth.
Posted by: DarkStar | February 17, 2012, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
Who cares? She is simply an odd person.
Vic
Posted by: Victor G. Bonnnell | February 17, 2012, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm
Why does Oprah’s action rise to the level of desperation? Is her apology rare because she never apologizes for anything even though she should, or because she has so little to apologize for? While it may have been inappropriate for her to personally lobby for Nielsen box households to watch her show, it is common knowledge (and a common occurrence) for those who wish to influence ratings of Black shows in particular to encourage tuning in or at least leaving televisions on a show so that ratings appear favourable. Just like the recent push to have Black attend “Red Tails” during opening weekend to ensure the movie’s success. Seems to me that people take issue with Blacks who learn the rules of the game and play it better than others.
Posted by: Misleading headline | February 18, 2012, 4:41 pm 4:41 pm
All sounds a bit overblown.How does one get a nlsn box anyway?
Posted by: johnnie | February 20, 2012, 9:50 am 9:50 am
Wealthy black woman, you are just rich. Oprah is wealthy, big difference. Why are you so concerned about describing exactly what a narcissistic condition is in so much detail? See one to know one,eh??
Posted by: #getoveryourself | February 21, 2012, 4:55 am 4:55 am
Yes…Oprah is a very gvg person, and we all know that bcuz she will hv a camera rolling for all to see every dollar, gift, or “favorite thing” Harpo Productions contributes. While it is admirable that she worked her way out of poverty to become successful..so did my parents and many other Americans.
Posted by: anonS | February 21, 2012, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm
You are all haters. She was marketing period. The whole thing she is over herself, she donated so that she doesn’t pay taxes is hullaballo…she will stillremain oprah…
Posted by: Thomas | February 23, 2012, 5:29 am 5:29 am
Maybe she would have gotten a lot of viewers to her channel if she hadn’t been so fast to snub her nose at the cancelled soap operas that she supposedly was a fan of. A lot of fans were looking for somewhere to continue watching their shows and she could have more viewers.
Posted by: dukeles | February 23, 2012, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm
oh Oprah, get over yourself already. take a break,,,so much self promoting, over exposure,,geez, we have had our fill of you (everyone I know agrees with this)…disappear awhile,,then make a comeback..(but don’t think anyone will miss you.) prove me wrong.
Posted by: Christine | February 23, 2012, 2:11 pm 2:11 pm
YAH, SELF PROMOTING. SHE IS VERY SELF CENTERED. AS LONG AS SHE LOOKS LIKE A GOOD PERSON DOING IT. SHE ALWAYS SAYS SHE IS NOT PREJUDICE, BUT SHE REALLY IS. THE ONLY PEOPLE SHE HELPS IS THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE. THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN NEED OF HELP TOO OPRAH.
Posted by: MELISSA | February 27, 2012, 6:49 pm 6:49 pm