Oprah Winfrey – The Story of an Entrepreneur

OPRAH'S ‘RAGS TO RICHES'JOURNEY contd...

In 1971, at the age of 17, Oprah got her first broadcasting job. She worked as a part-time radio announcer for WVOL Radio Station (targeting mainly African Americans) in Nashville. In 1972, she won the ‘Miss Black'Tennessee title. In 1973, after graduating from Tennessee State University, she joined WTVF-TV in Nashville as a reporter. In 1976, she joined WJZ-TV, a major affiliate of ABC^[4], in Baltimore, as a news anchor. She worked in WJZ-TV until 1983. During her tenure at WJZ-TV she got a chance to host a talk show.^[5] She was the co-host for ‘People Are Talking,'a popular talk show in those days.

By the end of the year, the talk show became very successful. As a result of the show's success and Oprah's increasing popularity, the show was renamed the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show'and its duration was increased from 30 minutes to one hour. In 1986, the show went national and became the country's number one talk show within one year of being nationally syndicated.

During the mid-1980s, Oprah began her acting career with a role in Steven Spielberg's ‘The Color Purple'(1985). For her performance in the movie, Oprah was nominated for the Oscar and Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actress. Her performance in her second movie, ‘Native Son'(1986), also won applause from critics.

Oprah's love for acting and her desire to offer quality entertainment led to the establishment of ‘Harpo Productions Inc.'(Oprah spelt backwards). With Harpo, Oprah became the third woman, in US history to own a movie production studio (the pioneers were Mary Pickford and Lucille Ball). In October 1988, Harpo Productions acquired the ownership and production rights of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show'from ABC. This made Oprah the first woman in the history of TV to own and produce her own talk show.

In 1992, Oprah got engaged to Stedman Graham (Stedman), a former basketball player and a public relations executive, with whom she had been living together since 1986. During the late-1980s and 1990s, Oprah won many awards and garnered recognition for her work in TV and films. In 1994, she was included in ‘TV Hall of Fame'(Refer Exhibit I for details of the awards won by Oprah).

^[4] ABC, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Company, is one of the leading broadcasting companies in the US. It broadcasts through a network of more than 230 affiliate stations across the US. It also owns over 60 radio stations and 10 TV stations in all the major markets of the country.

^[5] A talk show is an interactive session between two or more people. Such shows generally involve interaction between a host, guest(s) and the audience.

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