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may jump to cable Her contract with CBS expires in 2011 Nov 6, 2009 The rumor seems to surface every few years: Oprah Winfrey is on the brink of leaving her hugely popular syndicated talk show. The difference this time is where she's rumored to be going, to her long-delayed cable network, when her contract with CBS Television Distribution ends in 2011. Whether it's true this time remains to be seen. After a report on the blog Deadline Hollywood yesterday said Winfrey's as good as out the door, Les Moonves, head of CBS, said on a third quarter earnings conference call that Winfrey will make a decision on her future sometime in the next few months. A move to cable would have huge ripple effects, not just on CBS and the distribution of Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), but also on the ABC local station group that has carried Winfrey for more than 20 years. She is a lucrative lead-in to many local news programs. Winfrey has hinted at retirement before, but she always ends up returning. This time is different, however, because she has another outlet for her show. In fact, she may be hoping to give a boost to the troubled Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), which is backed by Discovery. The network has seen heavy turnover already in its management, and its debut has been pushed back several times. Deadline Hollywood suggests that Discovery is forcing Winfrey's hand by threatening to scrap the network unless she moves her production from Chicago to Los Angeles and puts her show on the channel. Still, while many have suggested that "Oprah" will eventually end up on OWN, it seems like a premature decision for a network that as of now has distribution in just 70 million homes, or 40 million fewer than the broadcast networks. "Oprah" remains the top-rated daytime show, but her ratings have declined sharply in recent years. She's also faced some criticism over her endorsement of Barack Obama and management of her school in Africa. In fact, reaction to the Deadline Hollywood story was surprisingly anti-Oprah, according to the comments below the story. Wrote more than a few readers: "Good riddance!"
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