Oprah was the queen of all that she surveyed. She was regularly highlighted as one of the most, if not the most, influential persons in the United States. If she touted a book, it went to the top of the best seller lists. She waved a wand and the already famous were made more famous. And she was ardently “non-political.”We are now four years on. And where are they now, Rex Murphy asks?
But four years ago, the House of Oprah made an epic decision: It chose to endorse Barack Obama. Oprah featured Obama on her show, with Michelle, and put the celebrated Oprah muscle to task for his campaign. It was a truly momentous event — the most powerful woman in entertainment endorsing a presidential candidate.
What of now? Well, something strange has happened. Oprah has lost her chi. She ended her long-time relationship with mainstream television and decided that she should have her own network. It is one of the very few examples of a person ordering her own self-exile. And the result is that she has simply ceased — in television terms — to be. I cannot recall a more precipitous drop in status, and in the influence status bestows, than Oprah’s almost complete fall from entertainment eminence.
Who speaks of Oprah now, save in valediction? Is she endorsing Obama this time? Who cares?
Murphy has a theory:
Had her “fall” something to do with breaking her tradition of staying out of politics? I think the answer is simpler than that: Fame is frail, celebrity is a bubble and the spotlight passes.Yes. Certainly that is true. And if you have to search for Oprah's television channel on cable, you might not find it. You also might not be able to afford cable these days, either. But I think another Chicago-based African American crossover success understood something else:
“Republicans buy shoes, too,” [Michael] Jordan reportedly quipped to a friend on why he wouldn’t endorse a black Democratic candidate, Harvey Gantt, in a 1990 North Carolina Senate race against Republican Jesse Helms.Yep. And any successful enterprise that wants to stay successful understands the importance of brand management. Sixty years ago, there was a Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company market in thousands of American cities, from coast to coast, over 16,000 in total at its peak. Nowadays, if you are outside of the New York metropolitan area, if hear the term "A & P" it's an even money bet that the person talking about it is referring to the short story by John Updike.
7 comments:
Oprah watchers were gonna vote for obama anyway.
what hurt her was leaving network television.
I don't think all Oprah watchers were automatically Obama fans. I know more than a few who weren't.
I agree that leaving "free" television is what hurt her. She was syndicated, not really on any network. I think she overvalued her offering by assuming that people would pay money to follow her. And she also overvalued her offering by assuming that cable providers would automatically add her network.
I'm pretty sure Gino is at least half right (the second half, specifically.)
I also have a feeling that if Oprah really cared to have the same level of visibility she used to have, she would. I really don't think that there are more than half a dozen people on this planet that can tell her anything about brand management.
I
sorry, i meant 'network' as in, you know ... not cable. but cable stations are networks, too.
brian makes a strong point. oprah worked her brand like no other.
and with a billion $$$ in the bank, she likely dont care anymore.
i know that i wouldnt care anymore.
i'd be retired to my property in the ozarks, where nobody would find me...
I hear you, gentlemen. However, it would be a big change for someone who is ambitious as Oprah was for the last 25 years to suddenly say goodbye to all that, especially when there's money to be made.
There have been a few people who walked away at the top of their game; Johnny Carson is the most obvious example. But Carson was old and was already starting to die from a half-century of smoking when he walked away.
I really don't think that there are more than half a dozen people on this planet that can tell her anything about brand management.
Yep, but Michael Jordan would be one of them.
oprah worked her brand like no other.
and with a billion $$$ in the bank, she likely dont care anymore.
Well, if she didn't care, she'd have disappeared completely. Instead she built the network equivalent of Xanadu. Citizen Oprah, so to speak.
I think it's fascinating.
point, score.
...Jordan would be one of them.
Fair enough!
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