Winfrey to end show in 2011

Kate Yule
Friday, November 20, 2009

After a quarter century on the air, the queen of daytime talk shows is signing off.

Oprah Winfrey held back tears as she told her studio audience that her show will go off the air in 2011.

Winfrey says she prayed and thought long and hard before making the decision. She thanked audiences for inviting her into their homes over the past 25 years.

The Oprah media empire is worth billions of dollars, and her flagship daytime TV show airs in 145 countries and is watched by about 42 million viewers in the U.S. alone.

Winfrey is widely expected to start up a new cable television talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

That network is expected to debut in 2011.