How did Oprah become so powerful?

Cafe Society
21

Oprah’s power comes from her credibility and the buying power of her audience.

There are popular celebrities, and then there are popular celebrities whose endorsement can send millions of middle-class American women to shopping malls.

Martha Stewart can get her audience to buy things, but she doesn’t have the range that Oprah does. Oprah can endorse virtually anything, but Stewart is limited to food items and crafts.

No one has been able to obtain that kind of influence over a male audience because that market has never been ignored. It has been fought over and divided since the dawn of advertising.

22

Oprah’s personality is compelling, to say the least. She did better than the other talk show hosts you mention because she is more charismatic, more honest, more interesting to watch.

23

I agree with Brynda. She also manages to find a perfect middle ground between intelligence and mass appeal. She promotes books on her shows, and generally good ones that are fairly intellectual, but nothing too esoteric or high-brow, thus allowing everyone who engages with her to feel like they’ve “stepped-up” a bit but are not overwhelmed. Her vocabulary and choice of questions and guests are similar.

Basically she has managed to create an aura of intelligence, sophistication and class that is slightly above the level of her average viewer, but still within their reach and ability to comprehend.

24

It’s a primacy effect.

Donahue was the main man on the scene before Oprah came on. Now, I love me some Donahue–even as a kid I loved watching his show, with all his running-up-the-stairs-with-the-mic thing. But a black woman? A black overweight woman? A black overweight woman with a funny name? A black overweight woman with a funny name doing some crazy-ass show topics (for younger and unintiated Dopers, her first seasons were of the transexual-Martians-with-herpes variety). That was formula for TV gold in the mid-1980s!

She seems old hat now that we’ve had Ricki Lake, Sally Jesse, that other white lady I can’t remember with the crooked smile, Tyra, et al. But really, she was the first in the act. Donahue was great, but he didn’t connect to the viewership like Oprah did. Because he wasn’t “one of them.” He was just another white guy with his own show. Been there, done that, even if it was a little different.

I remember watching Oprah when she was a local Chicago thing, during summer visits with my grandmother. So started off small-time and before I knew it, we were watching her down in Atlanta. Even as an eight-year-old, I was amazed by that.

I’m not a huge fan of Oprah’s show because it was a little “woo woo”, and I didn’t like how it had become an infomercial for her favorite thing of the month (though I do like Suze Orman). But no one can say Oprah isn’t a hardworking and smart businesswoman and entertainer. I know she was embarrassed by “Beloved” and I thought she probably should have cast another person for the starring role, but I thought it was a pretty decent film for very intense source material. I also enjoyed the other Oprah productions, like “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “The Wedding”. She deserves props for her book club, too. I consider myself a fairly independent reader, but many of the books on her list WERE good, and I have to admit that after awhile, seeing that seal on a book’s cover would influence my decision to check it out. A lot of women who weren’t reading, or weren’t reading good stuff at least, were suddenly introduced to stuff they would have never read if it hadn’t been for Oprah. So, yeah, her personality may grate, but she deserves major props for that IMHO.

I think a lot of women kind of grew up on Oprah. I mean, I’m in my early 30s and when I think of the 80s homelife, all the iterations of the theme song to the Oprah Winfrey Show are in the soundtrack. In my memories, my mother would be watching the show on the little black-and-white set while she’d be cooking dinner (always spaghetti, it seems to me), and I’d be doing my homework on the kitchen table. Oprah was a constant thing from 1985 to present, and I imagine for many people, watching her show was just an engrained habit. Like watching the David Letterman Show is for my father.

I enjoyed her in role in “The Color Purple.” Both Whoopie and Oprah were great in that movie, and both showed themselves to be more than the one-dimensional figures that Hollywood had carved out for them (and black women, in general) previously.

I understand why people don’t like Oprah and like I said, I don’t even like her show. But I don’t understand the hate she seems to get. Sometimes it just seems over-the-top. Unneccesary hateration. Yeah, I do think she’s a bit narcissicistic, but she balances it out with her philanthropy. Compared to most people on TV, I can’t say she’s the worse person in the world.

25

There’s no man who deals exclusively with “male issues” who’s as big as Oprah, but there are a ton of guys who got where they are from “male issues”. They’ve fragmented the market. But for women, Oprah is pretty much it. Now, granted, not all women care about “women’s issues”, but for those who do, and who watch TV, it’s all Oprah.

26

I think I have seen her daytime show once (when she spent the hour with Prince, before the was TAFKAP). But I lived in Baltimore for six months in 1979 when she was a weekend anchor on some tv station news show (WJZ channel 13). For some reason I remember seeing her and thinking “that lady is going to be a star”. Why, I don’t know, for reading reports about fires and lost dogs. Something about her personality and looks and even her name sounded great. When you break her name into syllables it is great. A long O followed by an unique sounding Prah. And her surname has two favorite words “Win” and “Free”.

As far as why haven’t past mistakes haven’t hurt her, as P J O’Rourke once said, if you say a Hollywood star is a crack addict, an adulterer and financially broke, all that means is that you have read their best selling autobiography.

In all seriousness, in how many marriages does the wife control the purse strings? My parents had a great one, over 50 years until death parted them, but my mother would manage the money. While she din’t watch talk shows or soaps (too often), I can see how many women could

27

This is really very true. She is authentic. If she isn’t sincere, she usually fakes it really well.

She’s also shrewd. There is a lot of money to be made in running a daytime talk show - and she’s been on the top of the heap, and self producing, for years. And she’s produced other people’s popular shows. And movies.

She certainly doesn’t speak for, or to, all American women. But she has more ears turned to her by American women than any other single person.

28

I’ve always wondered just how popular she could become having a show air while a massive amount of the population is working.
I know people do work 2nd and 3rd shift at jobs and work weekends, but the major bulk of the working class is in the rat race.
What are the viewing habits of her die-hard fans? Are they mostly stay-at-home women watching live? Are there masses of people who tape/dvr her show?

29

Men don’t care about ‘men’s issues’. They aren’t looking for a leader or an expert on TV telling them about Rogaine, showing them celebrity homes, dressing for success, makeovers, or how to have a good marriage. There were shows where they went to other countries and showed how average people, in average homes, lived their daily lives. Do you see Glen Beck doing that? Hugh Hefner, Fox News, and various sports figures are enough for them. Porn and football are enough for them. (yes, yes, there are exceptions, yes.)

30

Sigh… Henry, you can’t be a fan of something you have no clue about. Yog, MPB: ditto.

Ditto to everyone who is simply swallowing the entirely false notion that Oprah has spent 25 years serving up “Women’s Issues”. She absolutely has addressed women’s issues and she definitely appeals to more women than men. However, those are two different things. The topics that Oprah covers range far and wide, and only a very small slice can be called “Women’s Issues”.

As was discussed in some depth in a Cafe thread I started about the movie “A Face in the Crowd”, there is a very good argument to be made that Oprah is the reason Barack Obama is the president. That’s power, and Oprah has it.

You clearly have absolutely no idea what narcississm means or what it looks like.

The reason her magazine is named after her and has her face on the cover is because people buy the Oprah brand. Putting out the magazine as “Oprah’s blah blah” or whatever wouldn’t have been as compelling. The smartest way to sell is exactly the way it’s sold, with her face and name on the cover. It was the right business decision and narcississm had nothing to do with it.

A genuine narcississt would be completely incapable of doing what Oprah does, would be incapable of even doing a good imitation.

Oprah has a strong ego and plenty of confidence, of that there’s no doubt. And considering what she’s accomplished in her life, she’s more entitled to it than anyone else that comes to mind.

31

My mom DVR’s the show religiously.

I imagine that before DVRs Oprah was watched mostly by stay-at-home-moms.

Another thing to keep in mind about Oprah’s success is that “shopping” is a woman’s issue. Not for all women, but a lot of women do talk amongst themselves about how they shop.

That’s why her favorite things show is so brilliant. How do you let your audience indulge in product discussion, without turning the show into an infomercial (and losing credibility)? You give the stuff away for free!

Bottom line, Oprah makes money and looks good doing it.

32

For anyone wondering about the Oprah-Obama conversation…starts at post 17.

33

Ah you younguns…before DVRs there were VCRs. We’ve been able to record our favorite TV shows since the early 80’s. Technically the late 70s but they were so expensive hardly anyone had them.

34

These aren’t gender specific TODAY, I’ll grant you. But when I was growing up, and reading science fiction, my parents were horrified, because science fiction was for BOYS, not girls. And, in truth, there were damn few SF stories with any realistic female characters in them, or indeed, any female characters that weren’t simply sweethearts/love interests/etc. to the “real” (read: male) characters. The female writers usually either used their initials or wrote under a male name.

Exactly. Just about everything had been produced for the male audience. The female audience was mostly ignored.

35

How could that possibly be, a woman who does not define herself by men’s interested being successful?

They must be right about tomorrow, after all.

36

Stedman

37

My wife DVRs her show and watches it at night. I can’t help but be snagged into watching sometimes. I find her ‘celebrity interview’ shows to be the most annoying, as she really lays the praise on thick, and works the audience into a frenzy.

But her more interesting guests of everyday people dealing with remarkable or tragic circumstances can be quite compelling.

I think she has a way of putting people at ease. She’s able to get a lot of emotion out of her guests, more so than any other host I’ve ever seen. This alone will draw audiences in. She’s warm, generous (even if ultimately self-serving), understanding, genuine, candid, and seems approachable and unintimidating. She can be pretty self-depreciating at times too, which people find charming. She also has a strong perspective of being a minority, discriminated against, and born and raised in poverty/low-income, so her opinions on those topics (and humanitarianism in general) resonate with a lot of people, not just women.

I think what puts most of her detractors off is the branding she’s created around her persona. I feel that just comes from her shrewd business sense, more than her ego, but I can certainly understand the distaste for going as far as she has. That and the areas of woo she sometimes strays into. It taints her credibility, and when her regular guests like Dr. Phil and Oz become huge stars and land their own shows mainly because of Oprah’s influence, it raises concern for more skeptical people, because they become ‘the’ eminent voice on all things psychological, medical or scientific for the lay-housewife, grandmother, whatever. Very off-putting for some critical thinkers, because what if they’re mistaken, misleading or biased about something? That’s a lot of responsibility that can go sour pretty easily.

Anyway, all things shake out in the end, and while I can’t say I’m a fan, I don’t dismiss her, and find her interesting more times than not.

38

So, what exactly is a woman’s issue? Obviously, finding a better bra, yeast infections, etc. But most of what Oprah talks about isn’t vaginal - is weight loss a “women’s issue”? Financial management? Debt? I get this feeling that anything “household” related is relegated to “oh, that’s women’s stuff” in a very dismissive sense.

39

I find this to be the worst aspect of all, and the worst trend on talk shows. The “cry into the camera for us” money shots. I find it voyeuristic, contrived and exploitive. The public therapy sessions (“turn to your wife and tell her what you’re feeling”) are just gross, emotional porn. I think actual porn is less exploitive and less gross.

40

I get that. The emotional manipulation rubs many (including myself) the wrong way if handled bad. But it’s kind of the point of the show. It’s a talk show centered on human interest stories. At least most times, she seems sincere, and if you can get past that aspect, there’s certainly some interesting stories and guests to be heard. It’s not all-out manipulation as egregious as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, at least.

I can’t stand her shows that mainly feature her subjective opinions on entertainment or products… that’s when I feel she’s wielding her influence like a cut-rate pitch woman (and the inevitable product give away for the entire studio audience… The shrieking grown woman make my nuts retract into my pelvis) gag