Has Oprah's golden touch lost its magic?
Ratings for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and circulation of the talk queen's magazine, "O," are suffering steep declines, indications that her core audience — white women 35-54 — may be disatisfied with some of her recent forays into political activism.
Nielsen Media Research reports Winfrey's talk show has fallen nearly 7 percent this year, its third straight year of decline. Meanwhile, Audit Bureau of Circulation figures show her magazine slipping more than 10 percent in three years.
Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama may be behind some of the decline in her core, many of whom continue to back Hillary Clinton.
“Not too long ago, she was like the pope,” Janice Peck, an associate professor of mass communication at the University of Colorado, told the New York Times, citing criticism of her Obama support on message boards at Oprah.com.
“There are a lot of her fans who are not Democrats or who support Hillary Clinton who feel betrayed,” Peck told the newspaper.
Click here to read more about Orpah's ratings in The New York Times.
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