Oprah_ A Biography - Kitty Kelley [120]
“I think that in the Midwest you can have people who are surprised by some of the experiences that are exhibited on our show,” she told Fred Griffith. “If you have someone on my show who says, ‘My father was dating a duck for many years,’ in the Midwest people say, ‘Oh, God, his father was dating a duck!’ In New York they say, ‘Oh, my cousin was dating a duck, too.’ ” Referring to the impressionable studio audiences she could assemble from the area that writer Calvin Trillin once described as a milieu in which “culture did not hang heavily in the air,” Oprah told Electronic Media, “People can still be shocked here.”
Her executive producer elaborated. “Our audience definitely takes on the personality of the city,” said Debra DiMaio. “They reflect Midwestern values. They are outgoing. And nothing against Los Angeles or New York—their lifestyle is more human.”
“It’s true that Oprah couldn’t do her show anyplace else,” said Cheryl L. Reed, former editor of the editorial page of the Chicago Sun-Times. “People are too sophisticated and cynical in New York and Los Angeles, but Chicago is perfect for her kind of television.”
The city was grateful to Oprah for staying because she brought international acclaim to Chicago and drew hordes of tourists, filling hotels and restaurants with those who attended her shows every year. They are such a draw that the Chicago Office of Tourism added a special listing of “talk show ticket information” to the brochure it mails out to prospective visitors. Oprah also annually contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars to local organizations, including a children’s hospital, educational programs, schools, shelters, and literacy programs. In addition, she’s given generously to various museums and arts organizations across the city, including the Shedd Aquarium, the Chicago Academy for the Arts, the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, and the DuSable Museum of African American History.
A review of Oprah’s tax returns for all her charities, plus statements she has made to the press, indicate that from 1987 through 2009 she contributed more than $30 million to various Chicago organizations. Some of these funds came from viewers’ contributions to Oprah’s Angel Network—money that Oprah collected from others and donated in her name.
By August 1988, Jeff Jacobs had completed negotiating the deal with Capital Cities/ABC to give Oprah total control of her weekday show. In addition, he hammered out a new contract with King World to renew her contract for five years, through 1993, and all seven Capital Cities/ABC stations agreed to carry her through that time. In addition, ABC gave her three network specials. Industry analysts estimated the deals to be worth more than $500 million for Oprah and King World. Twenty years later, they estimated that The Oprah Winfrey Show made $150 million a year, of which Oprah kept $100 million. In contrast, Ellen DeGeneres, another popular talk show host with high ratings, made $25 million a year, an impressive amount, but one quarter of what Oprah made. The considerable difference is because Oprah owns and produces her show, although she also benefits from having more profitable time slots, when TV viewership is greater. Oprah’s show runs at 4:00 P.M. in all cities (except Chicago, where it runs at 9:00 A.M.) and leads in to the news, which makes it more valuable to a station than Ellen’s show, which airs in the morning.
After the ownership news was announced in 1988, Oprah sat down with Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun-Times:
“I had been looking at pictures of Rosa Parks and Leontyne Price,” she said, “and I believe I am the resurrection of a lot of my ancestors. I am the resurrected life for them. I am living the dream.