Talking about Oprah
Rumors about host's plans dent stock
King World stock dropped 69¢ to $39.06 Tuesday in response to the first set of rumors of the season, started by a TV broadcast in Los Angeles, that Winfrey had decided not to continue her talkshow past the 1997-98 season.
Winfrey's production company, Harpo, quickly issued a statement saying, "Oprah has not yet made a decision" about continuing the show and no decision has to be made until Sept. 15.
Harpo's statement is likely to fuel speculation for the next couple of weeks. Two years ago, Winfrey delayed her decision from the Sept. 15 deadline to Oct. 6, prompting widespread talk that she would cancel the show.
In the end, Winfrey said in a statement that it had been a "difficult and important decision for me, personally, because I wanted to feel completely confident that the show can still make a difference in peoples' live."
"The Oprah Winfrey Show" remains the highest-rated talkshow on daytime TV. After falling off in the 1995-96 season, "Oprah's" ratings rebounded last season when the show put an emphasis on celebrity guests.
Distribution of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" accounts for about one-third of King World's net earnings, according to a recent report by Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif, which said, "Oprah watch (is) likely to focus investors for the next few months."
Reif estimated "Oprah" is worth about $3 a share. That said, "Oprah" is not as crucial to King World as it was two years ago. Next year, the distributor will launch the Roseanne talkshow that Reif estimates could contribute between 50¢ and $1 a share in profit by fiscal 1999, compared with $1.30 for "Oprah."
Winfrey is currently filming "Beloved." Speculation about her future is usually based on debate about whether she wants to spend more time doing movies.
