Oprah, Exit; Exit, Oprah

Oprah Winfrey, the talk show host and media personality for whom nearly every superlative was created (most successful, most popular, most influential, highest paid, etc.), has announced that she will end her syndicated talk show in September 2011 and focus on creating new content for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), her joint venture with Discovery Communications.

With only a hint of hyperbole, Tim Bennett, president of Harpo, Winfrey's production company, told the 214 stations that air the King World-syndicated program, "The sun will set on the Oprah show as its 25th season draws to a close on Sept. 9, 2011." (Quoted by the New York Times' Brian Stelter and Bill Carter.)

As many reports have pointed out, Winfrey's move to cable will hurt CBS, owner of King World, most of all. The Los Angeles Times' Scott Collins and Joe Flint note that CBS has earned "hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over the years" from syndicating The Oprah Winfrey Show.

On Monday, Winfrey scored her biggest audience in two years with her interview with Sarah Palin. In March, Forbes estimated her worth at $2.7 billion.

Winfrey and Discovery announced the creation of OWN in January 2008, calling it a "new multi-platform media venture will be designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives." Earlier this month, OWN hired Lisa Erspamer as its chief creative officer. In January, the fledgling network tapped Christina Norman as chief executive officer . Erspamer had been an executive producer on Winfrey's show and worked for Harpo for fifteen years; Norman has previously been president of MTV.

Winfrey is expected to announce the move on air today.