Oprah Winfrey - The Story of an Entrepreneur

Oprah's 'Rags to Riches' Journey Contd...

As a result of the show's success and Oprah's increasing popularity, the show was renamed the 'Oprah Winfrey Show' and its duration was increased from 30 minutes to one hour. In 1986, the show went national and became the country's number one talk show within one year of being nationally syndicated. During the mid-1980s, Oprah began her acting career with a role in Steven Spielberg's 'The Color Purple' (1985). For her performance in the movie, Oprah was nominated for the Oscar and Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actress. Her performance in her second movie, 'Native Son' (1986), also won applause from critics.

Oprah's love for acting and her desire to offer quality entertainment led to the establishment of 'Harpo Productions Inc.' (Oprah spelt backwards). With Harpo, Oprah became the third woman, in US history to own a movie production studio (the pioneers were Mary Pickford and Lucille Ball). In October 1988, Harpo Productions acquired the ownership and production rights of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' from ABC.

This made Oprah the first woman in the history of TV to own and produce her own talk show. In 1992, Oprah got engaged to Stedman Graham (Stedman), a former basketball player and a public relations executive, with whom she had been living together since 1986. During the late-1980s and 1990s, Oprah won many awards and garnered recognition for her work in TV and films.

In 1994, she was included in 'TV Hall of Fame' (Refer Exhibit I for details of the awards won by Oprah). For over a decade, Oprah's talk show, like other talk shows focused on dysfunctional families and their problems. However, in 1994, Oprah announced a change in her program format. She decided to stop the 'dysfunctional group' based shows, and began focusing on 'positive' shows that inspired people to rise above their limitations and achieve their dreams. The aim of this new format was to 'entertain, enlighten and empower' the millions of viewers that watched the show across the world.

The new format thus offered direction, advice and help to people through 'entertainment mixed with therapy.' Oprah introduced Dr. Phil McGraw (Dr. Phil, a renowned psychologist) as a weekly guest on the show, to help guests and the audience gain insights into their problems. Thus, while other talk shows continued to focus on entertainment and shock value, Oprah's shows (and her various ventures) helped change lives for the better.

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Case Details

Case Code : LDEN006
Themes: Corporate Social Responsibility/Woman Entrepreneurs
Case Length : 14 Pages
Period : 1957-2000
Organization : Infosys
Pub Date : 2002
Teaching Note : Not Available
Countries : Japan
Industry : Media and Entertainment

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