It's Official: Oprah to End Syndie Run in 2011

Oprah Winfrey will end her syndicated talk show in September 2011, concluding a 25-year run, according to ABC News.

Winfrey is scheduled to make the announcement tomorrow on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which is produced by her Harpo Productions and distributed by CBS Television Distribution.

It is anticipated that Winfrey will announce her future plans on that show as well.

In a statement, CBS Television Distribution said, "We have the greatest respect for Oprah and wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors. 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."

The ABC News site carries the full text of a statement Harpo President Tim Bennett sent to TV stations that carry the program. It follows below.

-- Tom Gilbert

TIM BENNETT STATEMENT:

Dear Friends:

Over the past several weeks, my team and I have had conversations with many of you to help address your questions about the future of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Of course, the one question we couldn't answer was the one that only Oprah could. And tomorrow, she will do just that.

But before she speaks to her loyal viewers, we wanted to share her decision first with you - our valued partners for more than two decades.

Tomorrow, Oprah will announce live on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that she has decided to end what is arguably one of the most popular, influential and enduring programs in television history. The sun will set on the "Oprah" show as its 25th season draws to a close on September 9, 2011.

We welcome you to share this news this evening with your colleagues and viewers. As we all know, Oprah's personal comments about this on tomorrow's live show will mark an historic television moment that we will all be talking about for years to come.

We want to thank you for the partnership and friendship we have shared over the years. Your invaluable support has helped us to create the phenomenon of the "Oprah Show" that we've all been so proud to be a part of for the last 24 years. My staff and I will be calling all of you directly tonight and tomorrow. We look forward to speaking with you.

And, if you think the last quarter century has been something, then "don't touch that dial" as together we plan to make history in the next 20 months ... and beyond.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Bennett

President, Harpo, Inc.

It's Official: Oprah to End Syndie Run in 2011

Oprah Winfrey will end her syndicated talk show in September 2011, concluding a 25-year run, according to ABC News.

Winfrey is scheduled to make the announcement tomorrow on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which is produced by her Harpo Productions and distributed by CBS Television Distribution.

It is anticipated that Winfrey will announce her future plans on that show as well.

For the full text of a statement Harpo President Tim Bennett sent to TV stations that carry the program click here.

-- Tom Gilbert

Smart and Sassy: The Brillance of (and Why We Love) Jon Stewart

The last thing you think you want to see is another video about Lou Dobbs leaving CNN.

But trust us, you DO want to see this.

It's Jon Stewart's interview with Dobbs and it's why we love Stewart: It's hysterically funny and has more substance than 10 other interviews done on the same subject. Click here to view it.

--Chuck Ross

The Fan Choice Who's the Newest 'Simpsons' Character

Orange, Connecticut's Peggy Black, 52, was the big winner in "The Simpsons" create-your-own-character contest, and Latin lover Ricardo Bomba is her creation, reports the Associate Press.

Black's character was chosen from over 25,000 entries. La Bomba, as the character will affectionately be known, speaks with a Spanish accent and is irrestible, Black said:: "He's someone that all the women love and all the men want to be."

As Fox describes La Bomba, he's "a handsome, smooth-talking South American [who] works at the town's nuclear power plant by day and 'by night, works Springfield's singles scene' "

The Ricardo Bomba character makes his debut in the Jan. 31 episode on Fox.

-- Allison J. Waldman

Spot Runner Intros New Online Buying and Selling Platform (It's NOT Auction-based)

Spot Runner has announed a new online platform for buyers and sellers of commercial time on TV.

It's called  the Malibu Media Platform and is not auction-based.

Spot Runner said in the annoucement that: "The platform is based on the core tenet that media sellers preserve control over inventory, pricing and buyer relationships and buyers preserve their buying power on behalf of clients."

To read all the details put out by Spot Runner on this new service, click here.

--Chuck Ross

TV Sales Strategy/Marketing Guru Hired by Clear Channel

A veteran TV sales stragegy and maketing executive has been hired by Clear Channel Outdoor,  the company has annouced.

Debbie Reichig has been named Clear Channel Outdoor's Senior Vice President, Business Development and Marketing.

Previously Reichig had a long stint at Court TV, and was most recently Senior Vice President of Market Development at NBC Universal. She has also worked at iVillage and Comedy Central.

In the newly created position at Clear Channel Outdoor, according to the announcement, "she will be responsible for client development and marketing their brands and report to Rocky Sisson, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing of Clear Channel Outdoor."

--Chuck Ross

Huge Dispute With Millions of Dollars Hanging in the Balance: Media Agencies Furious at Changes TV Stations and Nielsen Want to Make in Local TV Measurement

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) has sent a blistering letter to Nielsen Media Research decrying a planned change in the way Nielsen will measure local TV measurement, Advertising Age reports.

The dispute revolves around whether digital video recorder usage should be measured. Presently, in local TV measurement by Nielsen, many agencies base much of their price negotiation on the live TV viewing metric. This is the metric Nielsen says it will be eliminating. In the national TV ratings, by contrast, the standard has become C3, which is live viewing plus 3-days of watching shows (and commercials) recorded on DVRs.

Nielsen is planning to change its local measurement to live viewing plus same day viewing of DVRs. This move is also backed by local TV stations, since it will increase the ratings of most shows.

According to the Ad Age article, " 'If we went from live to live-plus-same-day, which is what Nielsen is proposing to replace the live stream with in prime time, [for] the first couple of weeks of the season, the ratings would go up about 13%. But we know of that 13%, 60% to 70% of it is time-skipped,' said Rino Scanzoni, chief investment officer at [media agency holding company] GroupM. 'Our clients would be paying for program exposures that are not generating commercial exposure.'"

Scanzoni said "further action against Nielsen could be possible," according to the report.

In the letter to Nielsen, which was signed by Marc Goldstein, who is the president and North American CEO of GroupM and the chair of the 4A's Media Policy Committee, it said, in part,
"Nielsen can publish whatever new forms of data it desires. However, you must restore the "live" stream which you have elected to eliminate as a buying option for the media community. We ask that you get out of the way of the negotiating process and let buyers and sellers operate on a free market basis."

The full letter is reproduced in the Ad Age article.

--Chuck Ross

DirecTV's Malone on Potential Comcast-NBCU Deal: Regulators Will Need to Put a Check on Comcast's Market Power

John Malone, the chairman of DirecTV owner Liberty Media, says the government will need to monitor how a combined Comcast NBCU would wield its market power, according to the Wall Street Journal. (NOTE: The Journal's content is behind a paid firewall.)

According to the WSJ, when asked by a reporter about a possible Comcast acquisition of NBC Universal, Malone said "If regulators don't control costs and the market power of a content owner, then basically the other players in the industry have to play the same game."

Thus, the WSJ wrote,  "DirecTV would look at 'horizontal or vertical acquisitions' [in Malone's words] such as programming to counter anything Comcast may do."

--Chuck Ross

3D TV a Pillar of Sony's Plan for Profitablity

Sony Corp. sees 3D TV sets, 3D Blu-ray players, and Playstations that are 3D capable as a major part of its strategy to climb back to profitability, theAssociated Press reports.

For its current fiscal year, which ends in March, Sony is projecting a loss of a billion dollars. A key to making it back to profitability, the company said, is its products that revolve around TV.

According to the article, " 'We see 3-D as a pillar of our strategy,' said Hiroshi Yoshioka, a senior Sony executive, stressing that the whole company was rallying around 3-D. 'We are all getting geared up on this theme.'

--Chuck Ross

Palin Interview a Ratings Best for 'Oprah'; See a Clip

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" earned its best ratings in two years thanks to the one-on-one interview with ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on Monday, reports B&C.

A clip of the interview can be seen here.

Winfrey's hour earned a 7.2 rating/18 share in Nielsen's weighted-metered-market average for all showings. Last year at the same time, "Oprah" was averaging a 5.3/13.

-- Allison J. Waldman