Oprah Winfrey reveals the real reason why she stayed on TV

Jet, Nov 24, 1997

Oprah Winfrey has been doing her top-rated talk show for 11 seasons. Show after show, season" after season, she has been uplifting, educating and entertaining her audiences.

Earlier this season, she admitted that she was "exhausted" and considered quitting. But in the words of an old spiritual, Winfrey said, she now believes, "I'll run on and see what the end will be."

During a recent interview on the "Today" show, Ms. Winfrey explained to anchor Katie Couric the real reason why she decided to stay on TV with her No. 1 rated "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

"It was hard, because I've done it for 11 years already, and going into my 12th season," Winfrey said on the "Today" show.

"And I really do take it very seriously," she continued. "When I first got the job, I was just happy to be on TV. But as the years evolved, I grew and wanted to say something with the show, not just be a television announcer or a television performer, but I wanted to be able to say things that were meaningful to the American public and culture."

Ms. Winfrey, who tapes 200 shows a year, added, "I wanted to be able to use the show to enlighten as well as entertain, to have people think differently about themselves and their lives." But she said her grueling schedule made her "really exhausted."

But she revealed filming the upcoming movie, Beloved, about an ex-slave, changed her life and made her decide to stay on TV. The upcoming film is based on author Toni Morrison's best-selling novel of the same name.

Winfrey said making the movie reminded her of her history and her responsibility as a Black woman in a position of power and influence in the TV industry to make a difference in people's lives. She was inspired to continue to help people take better control of their lives and destinies.

Never before has a Black woman enjoyed the kind of TV success that Winfrey enjoys. She is currently No. 3 on Forbes' list of the world's most highly-paid entertainers, after grossing a combined total of $201 million for 1996 and 1997.

She is the first Black to own her own TV studio--a multimillion dollar complex in downtown Chicago. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is owned by Ms. Winfrey's production company Harpo Productions Inc. (Harpo is Oprah spelled backwards). No syndicated talk show in television history can compare with the ratings performance of her No. 1 rated, Emmy Award-winning show.

She told the "Today" show: "I made the decision...in the midst of doing Beloved. I was doing some scenes--Beloved is about an ex-slave, and during that process of doing that I connected to really what slavery had meant, and my own personal ancestry and history connected it to a way I have never before from reading all about Black history and, you know, talking to relatives."

The compassionate and proud Black TV pioneer stressed, "And I realized that I had no right to quit coming from a history of people who had no voice, who had no power, and that I have been given this--this blessed opportunity to speak to people, to influence them in ways that can make a difference in their lives and to just use that.

"So I came back, committed to not be subtle about it, just to use the show to change people's lives wherever I could, and do it, and just come out and say it," said Winfrey.

With that renewed spirit and commitment, Winfrey has promised to stay with the show through the 1999-2000 season. She also has kicked off a series of new philanthropic activities to help change people's lives.

She has established Oprah's Angels Network and has entered a partnership with Habitat for Humanity. She is helping minority students get a better education through her involvement with A Better Chance program, and she continues to inspire Americans to read through her popular "Oprah's Book Club."

With Oprah's Angel Network she is "asking Americans to collect small change," she explained on the "Today" show. "At the end of the year, we're going to put kids through college just from small change from people that would not have known what to do," she explained.

She added, "We are also grieved by Princess Diana's death, and the world was talking about what she did charitably--and I wanted people to know: You can do that yourself in your own space where you are in your life."

She noted, "You can reach out. You can be a princess, a queen in your own life by taking what you have and extending it to other people. So I've asked people to tell me about many miracles that they've created in other people's lives, and it's really the most rewarding season I've ever had on television thus far."

She is giving proceeds from her inspirational video Oprah: Make The Connection to A Better Chance, Inc., a Boston-based, privately funded program that provides bright innercity youth with the opportunity to attend college preparatory schools. A Better Chance has been helping minority students for 30 years.

Her partnership with Habitat for Humanity has 10,000 volunteers who are helping to build houses for needy Americans throughout the country.