Oprah Winfrey to end talk show in September 2011

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Oprah Winfrey will end her top-rated daytime talk show that has featured newsmakers from President Barack Obama to movie star Tom Cruise, in September 2011, a spokeswoman for her company said on Thursday.

"I can confirm that she's planning to make an announcement that she will end 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' at the completion of the 25th season, in September 2011," said the representative for Harpo Inc.

The spokeswoman had no further comment.

The announcement is expected on Friday's program where Winfrey is expected to detail the reasons behind her decision.

Industry watchers believe Winfrey will move to cable network OWN, a Los Angeles-based joint venture she has with Discovery Communications Inc, where she will air another talk program similar to the current show.

OWN had been expected to launch as early as 2009, but that date has been delayed. When the network is up and running, it will be available in more than 70 million homes.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show," broadcast from Chicago on ABC stations across the United States and in some 145 countries worldwide, is one of the TV industry's biggest money-makers and the top-rated U.S. daytime talk show, averaging 7.1 million viewers this year.

Winfrey, 55, is regarded as one of the most influential opinion-makers in the United States, and just this year was No 45 on Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful people.

The program has made her among the world's wealthiest individuals, with a net worth estimated at USD 2.3 billion, according to financial magazine Forbes, and she regularly ranks at the top of the list of the most powerful women in media.

Ending her current show will hit CBS Corp's CBS Television Distribution arm, which syndicates the show, and Walt Disney Co's ABC's owned and operated TV stations that broadcast the show.