Thursday, November 19, 2009

“Winfrey to announce Friday show will end in 2011 - Modesto Bee” plus 4 more

“Winfrey to announce Friday show will end in 2011 - Modesto Bee” plus 4 more

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Winfrey to announce Friday show will end in 2011 - Modesto Bee

Posted: 19 Nov 2009 08:21 PM PST

Winfrey is widely expected to start up a new talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a much-delayed joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. that is expected to debut in 2011. OWN is to replace the Discovery Health Channel and will debut in some 74 million homes. An OWN spokeswoman declined comment Thursday.

CBS Television Distribution, which distributes "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to more than 200 markets blanketing the United States, held out hope that it could continue doing business with Winfrey, perhaps producing a new show out of its studios in Los Angeles.

"We have the greatest respect for Oprah and wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors," the unit of CBS Corp. said in a statement. "We know that anything she turns her hand to will be a great success. We look forward to working with her for the next several years, and hopefully afterwards as well."

Winfrey's 24th season opened earlier this year with a bang, as she drew more than 20,000 fans to the city's Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue for a Chicago block party with the Black Eyed Peas.

She followed up with a series of blockbuster interviews - Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, exclusives with singer Whitney Houston and ESPN's Erin Andrews, and just this week, former Alaska governor, GOP vice presidential candidate and best-selling author Sarah Palin.

Over the years, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" grew from a newcomer that chipped away at talk king Phil Donahue's dominance into a program that turned inspirational. The show covered a gamut that ranged from interviews with the world's most famous celebrities to an honest discussion about her weight struggles.

"As that show evolved, it really kind of dressed up the neighborhood of the daytime talk show," said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. "There was a seriousness to it, as though what she was doing was a calling and not just a television show."

In 1986, pianist-showman Liberace gave his final TV interview to Winfrey, just six weeks before he died. In a widely viewed prime-time special aired in 1993, Michael Jackson revealed he suffered from a skin condition that produces depigmentation.

Tom Cruise enthusiastically declared his affection for the much-younger Katie Holmes on the program in 2005 - and jumped on the couch to prove it.

In 2004, Winfrey unveiled her most famous giveaway, when nearly 300 members of the studio audience opened a gift box to find the keys to a new car inside. The stunt became a classic show moment as much for Oprah's reaction - "You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!" - as its $7 million price tag.

The show also became a launching pad for Oprah's Book Club, and authors whose books were selected became best-sellers. The titles ranged from "Song of Solomon" and "Paradise" by Toni Morrison to Wally Lamb's "She's Come Undone" and Elie Wiesel's "Night."

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The Mayors: A WWJ Newsradio 950 Business Breakfast - WWJ Newsradio 950

Posted: 19 Nov 2009 08:29 PM PST

Honduras interim president may take leave for vote

Formerly conjoined twins to need years of care

Obama answers questions from top Cuban blogger

UN committee criticizes NKorea rights violations

Peruvian police: Gang killed people for their fat

Canada faces allegations of torture complicity

200 Web sites spread al-Qaida's message in English

UN urges help for 1 billion deprived children

Belgian-British duo wins race for EU's top jobs

Egypt, Algeria soccer tiff grows

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Kinks songwriter Ray Davies revisits hits with choral twist - Ithaca Journal

Posted: 19 Nov 2009 07:53 PM PST

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Davies believes the enduring appeal of his 1960s songs - especially in Great Britain - is something shared by other music from that time.

"Songs from that period have almost an innocence," he said. "It was the first time certain types of music broke out. In England, it was a lot to do with cultural change, political change, social change - a time when everything was moving forward, and it affected the music. ...

"I think when you play a lot of those old records, that's what you hear - everything from Stax and Motown to the Kinks and the British Invasion, the best of it. It has a feeling of optimism about it."

Unlike many acts from the 1960s, the Kinks - with Ray's younger brother, a href="http://www.davedavies.com/">Dave Davies, on lead guitar - survived into the '70s and '80s to find arena-rock fame in the United States, with chart-toppers such as "Destroyer" and "Come Dancing." The band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, played its last gig in 1996 - but there are periodic rumblings that the Kinks could rise again.

Not that Davies is content to sit back and take it easy until then. Since being shot in the leg during a 2004 mugging in New Orleans, he's shown a new-found passion for his work, releasing two solo albums (2006's "Other People's Lives" and 2007's "Working Man's Café") and staging the long-in-development musical "Come Dancing," based around the end of the Big Band era in England. The 2008 show, performed at a small London theater, featured a host of new tunes and Davies onstage as "the Storyteller" - a role he will reprise for a tour of Great Britain in early 2010.

"I think the show will make it over here (to the U.S.) eventually," Davies said. "I'd like there to be as many of the original cast as possible, because they're all in their early 20s - it's a really exciting team."

He's also working on an album of collaborations with other artists that could be out next year, and he loves how it's giving him the chance to write songs for and with other musicians.

"I haven't heard this directly from him, but I think Bruce Springsteen might be interested, and I've contacted a few people," Davies said. "I don't like talking about it until we've actually done it, but I'd like it to be creatively interesting for everybody involved."

The busy schedule - which also includes a short tour of East and West Coast dates this month - keeps Davies from writing as many songs as he'd like to, but he's hoping to get back to his weekly Saturday-at-the-piano routine soon.

"I could do with a Ray Davies look-alike right now," he said with a laugh. "If anybody knows one, please contact me!"

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The Oprah effect: Winners and losers - Los Angeles Times Blogs

Posted: 19 Nov 2009 07:46 PM PST

Oprah Winfrey's decision to walk away from her daytime talk show after 25 years when her contract expires in 2011 will have a ripple effect throughout the television industry.

The big winners are Discovery Communications, which is partners with Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) that is due to launch in early 2011, Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros., which syndicates her daytime talk show and all the TV stations that will no longer have to compete against Winfrey in daytime.

WINFREY The losers include CBS, which will no longer be able to count on the hundreds of millions that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" delivered in license fees and advertising revenue over the years. ABC is also probably not too happy. Many of its big city stations carried the show and it delivered a sizeable audience to their local news. Sony is also grumbling; it was trying desperately to woo distribution rights to Winfrey's daytime show away from CBS when her deal expired. Winfrey herself may be a loser because odds are that, at least in the short-term, she will take a financial hit by abandoning daytime talk -- although, of course, in the long-term she is building an asset that could have tremendous value.

While Winfrey and OWN are keeping quiet, the talk show queen is expected to have a visible presence on the channel when it launches. She probably will do a daily show, although it will not be a carbon copy of her current effort. This will help OWN build a brand and boost its distribution for the network.

Winfrey's departure will be the end of an era for daytime talk. She burst onto the national scene in 1986 after toiling in local TV in Nashville, Baltimore and Chicago, which is where she has made her home for almost 30 years. The late Roger King, a legendary salesman known as much for his hard-living as for his deal-making acumen, signed her to King World and made her a star, and she made him and his brother Michael incredibly rich. CBS later bought King World for $2.5 billion.

When Winfrey premiered, daytime talk was still ruled by Phil Donahue, who dealt with politics and social issues in a more refrained manner. Winfrey was boisterous and enthusiastic and endeared herself to her audience and guests. She was able to woo political leaders and movie stars to her couch and at the same time dip into the more tawdry topics that have also become a staple of TV without soiling her own reputation.

The exit of Winfrey from broadcast TV to cable is yet another sign of the paradigm shift between the two mediums. News Corp., Disney and Viacom all are powered by their cable networks, as is Time Warner. Comcast wants control of NBC Universal not for its broadcast network and TV stations, but for its cable networks. Winfrey is making the decision that she can make more money and build her brand better on cable than broadcast. A few years ago that would have seemed unthinkable, but it is clear that the greater value lies in the broadband medium. OWN, which will debut in 2011 in roughly 70 million homes, will be turbo-charged by having her on board as a regular presence.

At the same time, her own visibility will decline, at least for awhile. While actors bounce back and forth between broadcast and cable, personalities of Winfrey's stature generally stay put. Ted Koppel left ABC's "Nightline" for Discovery Channel but his presence in the cultural zeitgeist diminished and he no longer is associated with the network. Howard Stern gave up his perch on FM radio for satellite radio and though his pay day grew tremendously, he is no longer part of the daily conversation around the water cooler. Winfrey probably will have a similar adjustment. Cable is great at building some stars such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but those who move there from broadcast face smaller audiences and diminished limelight. 

Of course, after a quarter of a century of being in the spotlight, maybe Winfrey won't mind some quiet time.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Oprah Winfrey. Credit: Chris Pizzello/Associated Press

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Jean Eric Vergne steps up to BF3 - Motorsport.com

Posted: 19 Nov 2009 07:46 PM PST

GOOD MORNING BRITAIN !

Jean-Eric Vergne has taken a big step forward after a good season in Formula Renault 2.0 during which he fought at the front in the WEC and Eurocup Championships. Next year, he will race in the highly-competitive British F3 Championship in Red Bull colours for well-known English team, Carlin Motorsport. This championship has always enjoyed a very special reputation in motor racing, and several of its winners like Jackie Stewart (1964), Ayrton Senna (1983) and Mika Haekkinen (1990) have gone on to triumph in the F1 world championship. It runs from April to September and there are around a dozen meetings on the calendar.

The British F3 Championship is a logical step forward in terms of performance in Vergne's career. The cars are powered by engines putting out around 210 bhp, and the chassis provides many setup possibilities enabling drivers and engineers to display their talents in these areas. Just what the doctor ordered for the young Frenchman! Three questions to Jean-Eric Next year, you'll be racing in the British F3 Championship.

Is this a big step forward?

JEV: "Yes. This championship is highly competitive and enjoys a great reputation in the motor racing milieu. F3 was my aim and it fits in with Red Bull's ambitions. Quite a few of the drivers in the Junior Team programme have followed the same path, and they've all benefitted greatly from it. In addition, I'm lucky to be driving for Carlin Motorsport, a very competitive team which doesn't need any further introduction, so I can't wait!"

Is it also a change of culture?

JEV: "Absolutely! It's very important for me to gain experience in a British milieu as up to now I've only known French teams. In 2010, I'm going to have to get to grips with a new category, learn new circuits and also learn a new way of working. I think that all these factors will make me a more complete driver."

What are your aims?

JEV: "To win, quite simply. I feel that with good preparation - which has already begun - and a competitive car, I'll be able to take the fight to the best right from the start. F3 is a turning point in a driver's career as it's where you can make a real impact. Jaime Alguersuari and Daniel Ricciardo, both Red Bull drivers, have won the title in this category in the past. Good things happen in threes as the saying goes, and I hope to prove this in 2010!"

-credit: jev

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