Bye Talk-Show Oprah, Hello Network Oprah

Oprah isn't leaving TV; she's just reinventing herself as a brand.

There is no logical reason Oprah Winfrey should want a network of her own. That said, there is one irrational reason – a reason so basic and pervasive that even those of us who aren’t globally recognized television personalities understand where it comes from.

As you probably know by now, last week marked the last of Oprah’s syndicated shows before she committed herself to focusing on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), which was created in her own image and launched at the beginning of 2011.

For the last 25 years, Oprah has interviewed racists, overseen makeovers, reunited lost lovers, and browbeaten James Frey. As a talk-show host, she has done it all: There isn’t a topic she hasn’t covered, so she gains nothing by moving her act to OWN.

With her farewell words – “I won't say goodbye. I'll just say: Until we meet again" – Oprah promised she won’t disappear from the airwaves. As her first move since concluding The Oprah Winfrey Show, she will launch Oprah’s Next Chapter – a prime-time travel show on her new channel that profiles celebrities like Jay-Z.

But with OWN pulling in only middling numbers, the smart money says Oprah will soon be back hosting a talk show as well. Speaking to the celebrity-gossip website PopEater, one of Oprah’s co-workers said:

She is going to dedicate herself to her new network and do whatever needs to be done to make sure it's a huge hit. If this means bringing her own show back to life on her network, then she will. I can't imagine that she won't be back on the air before the end of the year.

If Oprah is just going to end up back on the air, what does she gain by setting up her own network? Does she get additional latitude to cover the topics of her choosing? Well, no – she already has the power to do anything she wants on TV. She could take her show in any direction she chooses, limited only by her imagination.

The days of her being just a talk-show personality ended years ago. At some point along the line, Oprah became a driving force for social (and even political) change. Likewise, she’s already an engine of commerce: The books she chooses to highlight using Oprah’s Book Club become bestsellers, and her Ultimate Favourite Things turn into hot commodities with her Midas-like touch. She even has her own star factory, elevating personalities like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Nate Berkus, and Gayle King to the level of household names.

Oprah is a satellite-radio star, a movie producer, and a magazine publisher – and she achieved all of that without OWN.

Would a television network give her more wealth? Perhaps, but she’s already worth close to $3 billion, according to a Forbes estimate.

Perhaps a network would give her more pull, but that’s hard to imagine. She’s already ranked by some as the most influential woman on the planet, and she is perhaps the most successful recipient of the American Dream ever, recognizable by a single name. She has even turned her star power into political capital, delivering crucial votes for U.S. President Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries, arguably saving his candidacy. Oprah has not only changed individual lives, but also American history.

So why does she need the headache of running her own network? Because all of her accomplishments can’t give her the one thing each of us craves: immortality.

Although she has touched countless lives through her school in South Africa, and by funding educational initiatives in the U.S., Oprah has no children of her own – no one who will succeed her.

Having her own network at least gives her a spiritual child. It’s her baby – her way to keep spreading the message of self-empowerment long after she’s gone. Oprah understands that TV has the power to transcend time: OWN carries her name, and the hosts who come after her will embody her spirit.

Oprah will one day pass away, but her brand will be preserved forever. More than just airing programming, that is OWN’s mission. And that’s why Oprah was willing to push herself to establish her own network – to take a leap into the unknown after being wildly successful for a quarter of a century.

If OWN works, what’s the payoff? Simply that Oprah becomes ageless.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.