When Oprah rocked the world with the announcement of the final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show come 2011, a huge grey cloud loomed over many a Chicagoan’s mind. What will the media giant’s departure mean for the city and its people? Will her employees and local suppliers be left stranded and lose their source of income?
Well, the good news is, Harpo Productions is here to stay. In an article on Ruth L. Ratny’s ReelChicago.com, it states that:
“Harpo Productions plans to develop and produce new and continuing shows for syndication, prime time, cable, digital, radio and emerging platforms from Chicago.
The transition to a large assortment of content produced out of the Washington St. studio will be a huge boon for the local industry.
To everyone’s relief, it won’t suffer the loss of millions of dollars worth of annual Harpo business that might have left with Oprah’s departure.”
(read full article here)
I guess that means good news for production peeps like me too. With the focus moving from a single show to an entire network, The Oprah Winfrey Network is bound to lead to the rise in demand for content to fill their slots… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… you can do the math.
Add that to the stringent content selection process I’m sure she’ll put in place to maintain the positive image of her brand, the content demanded will likely be right in line with the type of production I’m passionate about – social issue media. Nice. Content on air really doesn’t always have to be about sex, drugs and violence. Whether or not I’ll still be in the city to witness these changes, I’m glad that there’ll at least be more positivity on television.
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Shuling Yong 