Is Oprah Winfrey Pulling a Brett Favre Retirement?

Oprah Winfrey announced on her show, that her last episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show will fall on the anniversary of her 25th year, in 2011. She gave a very vague and illusive reason as to why she was planning to retire the show stating "I love this show. This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it's time to say goodbye. Twenty-five years feels right in my bones, and it feels right in my spirit. It's the perfect number-the exact right time. So I hope that you will take this 18-month ride with me right through to the final show."

So, what is her publicity agenda? Maybe she's just pulling a Brett Favre retirement. Did the show tell her she's getting too old and they need to replace her? Or maybe they are tired of dealing with her ups and downs of weight gain and dieting. My guess is she wants to make even more money than what she is making on the show, if that is even humanly possible. ET said you can bet she is just making a "business decision" to move on to the next step in her career.

Much like the Brett Favre retirement conference of March 6, 2008, Oprah announced her goodbyes with emotional tears of regret and gratitude for her fans. This announcement appeared to many viewers as if Oprah was retiring from showbiz all together. But you can bet this isn't the last of Oprah. You can expect to see her playing on a new team as soon as she has "retired" from her existing show. And the team name will be called "Team Oprah."

Oprah Winfrey has established her own cable network. According to the official press release on Oprah.com "The Oprah Winfrey Network, a multiplatform company, will debut in January 2011 in more than 70 million homes on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel."

I can't help but point out the irony in the acronyms she uses. She is incredibly famous for this. Most people are aware that Harpo, her production company, is Oprah spelled backwards. Therefore, I am extremely amused with the acronym for her new network and the meaning that is behind it's usage. Pay special attention when you go to her new network Web site at http://www.oprah.com/own. The first thing you see at the upper left hand corner is her acronym for the network "OWN" in big bright orange letters. Immediately after you see the word "YOU," also in big bright orange letters. If you put them both together as if they are a sentence, her message is "OWN YOU" and theoretically, she does. With over "42 million" viewers each week in the United States alone, Oprah has the power of persuasion unlike any other person in America. Even Ashton Kutcher, who bragged recently about having over 3 million fans on twitter can't touch her popularity. I believe Oprah's persuasion is the primary reason we now have Barak Obama as president. Either way, you can bet you haven't seen the last of her. She will be back, bigger and better than ever. She is at the height of her career. Brett Favre is 8-1 for the Vikings so far, and looking like a superbowl contender with a solid team. I am sure Oprah's stats won't be far from the same with her new team at OWN.