Oprah Hits the Airwaves
Sept. 25, 2006 — -- She has conquered television and made a splash on the magazine world.
Now, Oprah Winfrey's taking to the airwaves.
Today marks the debut of the "Oprah and Friends" network on XM Satellite Radio.
The talk-show queen and her best friend, Gayle King, will be featured on the 24-hour station.
Several contributors, including renowned poet Dr. Maya Angelou, personal-finance guru Jean Chatzky, and fitness expert Bob Greene, will also host shows.
For Winfrey, the radio channel marks a return to her roots.
"For me, being a part of XM Radio is a full-circle moment because I started out in radio when I was 16 years old and now I'm able to share the airwaves with my friends," Winfrey said.
Inside Look at Conversations Between Friends
On the show featuring Winfrey and King, listeners will get to hear private phone conversations between the two friends.
The two have talked nightly for decades.
On "Good Morning America," Winfrey told ABC News' Diane Sawyer that she looked forward to relaxing and chatting with her best friend.
"That's my come-down time," Winfrey said.
Sounding off is cathartic for King, too.
"I've had five therapists, and nobody has been better than her," King said.
Winfrey and King dish about their days just like all best friends do, though sometimes, their gossip is on a bigger scale.
In one of the excerpts to be broadcast on XM, King tells Winfrey about the horror of flipping through Us Weekly and finding her picture in a worst-dressed column.
"They thought [the outfit] was too much orange," King told Sawyer, "and you know I like bright colors."
"Looking like a parakeet sometimes, but that's OK," Winfrey said.
Hitting the Airwaves and the Road
In addition to their new radio show, the best friends recently embarked on another adventure together: an 11-day, 3,600-mile road trip across the country.
Their journey will be featured on Winfrey's TV show this season.
While Winfrey enjoyed the trip, she wasn't a fan of King's relentless habit of singing along with the radio.
"You can learn a lot about a person 11 days in a car," she said. "And we're still really great friends. But the music all the time, it was really aggravating me."