oprah-winfrey-bCHICAGO (AP) – Oprah Winfrey’s production company says Winfrey will announce Friday that her talk show will end in 2011 after its 25th season on the air.

Chicago-based Harpo Productions Inc. said Thursday night that the talk show host will give more details live on the “The Oprah Winfrey Show” broadcast Friday.

Winfrey started her broadcasting career in Nashville, Tenn., and Baltimore, Md., before relocating to Chicago in 1984 to host WLS-TV’s morning talk show “A.M. Chicago.”

That show was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1985.

A year later, Winfrey established Harpo and her talk show went into syndication.

In 1990, Winfrey opened Harpo Studios in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood.

WSFA 12 News, which broadcasts “The Oprah Winfrey Show” each weekday at 4:00pm received this statement from Harpo Studios President Tim Bennett a short time ago:

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.