Entertainment

CHICAGO (CBS) ― An emotional Oprah Winfrey, fighting back tears before a live studio audience, told her viewers that after much thought and prayer she has decided to end her daytime talk show in 2011.

"You, our viewers, have enriched my life beyond all measures," Winfrey said as her voice cracked.

Winfrey said the reasons she plans to end the show is only because it's the right time to do so.
 
"I love this show, this show has been my life, and I love it enough know when it's time to say goodbye," she said.  "Twenty-five years feels right in my bones and it feels right in my spirit.

"It's the exact, right time,'' she said.

After the live broadcast, audience members said they were emotional with her.

"It was a quiet and slightly somber experience," said Jen Wonderlick.

"Very tearful. Everyone was very much emotional," said Crystal Williams.

"I had a tear in my eye. I totally admit it. She was crying and it's hard not to feel that emotion," said Courtney Hedderman.

SLIDESHOW: Oprah Winfrey: Then And Now

Previously, Tim Bennett, president of Harpo, Inc. announced that Winfrey's show will air its final episode on Sept. 9, 2011, marking her 25th season.

Winfrey did not address numerous reports that she will move to Los Angeles, or what will happen to Chicago-based Harpo Productions and its employees.

But a published report quotes Winfrey with less kind remarks. It says she told "insiders," "Why would anybody stay in Chicago?"

There has been talk for some time that Winfrey would move Harpo Productions Inc., her production company, out of Chicago and possibly create her own network.

A Deadline.com report indicated that Winfrey's new show will be based in Los Angeles, and that Winfrey hopes to divest her Chicago real estate "as soon as possible."

Deadline.com quoted Winfrey as saying to "insiders:" "Why would anybody stay in Chicago? It's freezing here, and I have a mansion in Montecito that I haven't been able to enjoy."

The report said Winfrey has continued to live part-time in Chicago so she wouldn't have to pay high taxes as a California resident.

It has not been learned how the move will affect Winfrey's Harpo Productions here.

Winfrey is a native of Kosciusko, Miss., but has been based in Chicago since 1983, when she became host of a morning talk program on WLS-Channel 7.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" is syndicated through CBS Distribution and Thursday night, CBS confirmed Winfrey would be out of the syndication business in two years.

Bennett didn't give any specifics as to why she decided to end her historic run but he did thank Winfrey's TV partners and viewers.

Harpo Studios literally helped develop the West Loop over the past two decades and brought a lot of attention and business to the city. Hundreds of workers are employed by Harpo Studios in Chicago.

Earlier this month, Winfrey told Flannery that those workers should not worry about their jobs.

She also told CBS 2 that she does plan on launching her own Oprah Winfrey Network.

Fans who attended Friday's historic Oprah show seemed to support her decision to go out on top, but were sad to see her go and will miss her.

"I'm kind of sad, you know, because she went from the bottom up, and she is quite the woman," said Oprah fan Joanne Zoellner. "But we haven't seen the last of her."

In a statement released Friday regarding Oprah Winfrey, Mayor Daley said:

"I spoke to Oprah Winfrey today and I immediately congratulated her, wished her well and thanked her for the tremendous asset she has been to Chicago.

"Oprah's presence in Chicago has been a gift for over two decades. The "Oprah Winfrey Show" has drawn worldwide attention to our city and distinctive energy from it. So of course we're saddened to hear that it will be ending.

"When you think of Oprah you think of her book club. She caused more people to start reading. You think of her Favorite Things. She reminded people it's not always the big things that make life grand.

"Oprah's success has come from hard work, discipline and generosity. She has been a role model to countless people young and old. She has been a great ambassador for our city and I know will be hugely successful in her next endeavor."

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 west of the Loop.

Just as important as what Oprah Winfrey said was what she did not say. She did not say whether she will be moving from Chicago nor did she indicate what's going to happen to Harpo Studios. She also did not address the future of her Chicago-based employees, as she plans to launch her cable network.

CBS 2's Jim Williams, Dana Kozlov and Ed Curran contributed to this report.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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