Oprah says Farewell

As I'm sure the whole world knows by now, Oprah Winfrey is leaving her self titled show after 25 years on the air. At the end of her show on November 20, she announced that she was calling it quits. (View the video clip here or read the Chicago Tribune article here) Now, I have to admit I'm not Oprah's biggest fan, but I wanted to focus on how the news was communicated and what this means for her employees. According to an article by the Chicago Sun Times employees were asked to attend an afternoon meeting. Inside the meeting the employees watched a montage of television show finales, where they realized the Oprah Winfrey show finale was in the future. Apparently employees began to cry (whether is was because they truly loved their job or because they realized they were going to be unemployed is questionable). The meeting ended with a letter from Harpo President Tim Bennett, which concluded with "And, if you think the last quarter of the century has been something, then don't touch that dial, as together we plan to make history in the next 20 months...and beyond".

After reading the article I wanted to know more about the meeting. First of all I was surprised President Bennett wasn't at the meeting himself to announce the shows end. I wonder who read the letter he wrote (or rather the companies public relations facilitator wrote) and why he didn't attend the meeting. Also I'm interested in how employees were asked to handle the press and the media after Oprah broke the news. I thought it was very creative to use the video montage of finales to segway into the news, and I wonder how the presentative of the news affected how employees took it.

Sound off: What do you think about how Harpo broke the news of the shows end to employees?