Dr. Sabrina Segal

Oprah is a media mogul. She has her hands in TV, magazines, books, movies, fund-raising – you name it.

All is not rosy in the land of Oprah.

Viewership for the Oprah Show has been on a decline for the past three years, dropping about 7% this year to 7.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. It’s still the #1 talk show 471 weeks running and has an audience one-third larger than the nearest Nielsen competitor, “Dr. Phil”.

Although “Oprah’s Big Give” debuted with numbers second only to American Idol, the audience fell off 33% during the remainder of its eight-week run (15.7 million to 11.1 million). In print media, “O” The Oprah Magazine, has seen its circulation drop more than 10% over the last three years. Some say these are industry trends happening not just to Oprah.

As far as endorsements, Oprah’s still got it – for the most part. An Oprah book selection usually passes directly to a best seller list, but not always. There have been controversies like the Frey book, and recent selections toward new-age spiritualism that have alienated some long-time fans.

“Not long ago, she was like the Pope, rarely criticized by ardent supporters.” But that’s no longer the case. Oprah’s foray into politics with her endorsement of a presidential bid has caused unrest on Oprah message boards.

“Once you open your mouth about politics, you tend to alienate half your audience. That’s probably why the endorsement backfired,” says USC professor, Steven J. Ross. But on the other hand, “Oprah is a truly authentic personality and says what she thinks and believes. That’s part of her charm”.

What will happen with “The Oprah Winfrey Network” (OWN), a joint venture vehicle for empowering programming with Discovery Communications begins in late 2009?

Photo Credit: Sabrina Segal