Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is set to debut
a new show on Sunday in her latest bid to revive spluttering ratings
at the cable network she launched with great fanfare a year ago.
Oprah's Next Chapter will be Winfrey's first regular series since
she ended her Oprah Winfrey Show in May. It will showcase the TV star
travelling around the United States, and occasionally abroad,
interviewing "real people, newsmakers, celebrities and thought
leaders," according to a press release.
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will feature in the first episode,
with visits to a Hasidic family in Brooklyn, a transcendental
meditation centre in Iowa and even a tour of India with self-help
guru Deepak Chopra planned for future installments.
The preview reel also showed a meeting with Star Wars creator
George Lucas at his Skywalker Ranch, a fishing adventure with chef
Paula Deen and firewalking with inspirational speaker Tim Robbins.
"Let's just say we're not sitting on those chairs no more,
people," Winfrey said, referring to the studio-bound format that was
her recipe for success for 25 years on the Oprah Winfrey show.
The show will be the cornerstone of the Oprah Winfrey Network OWN,
which has struggled to attract viewers since it was launched at the
start of 2011 with a reported investment of 250 million dollars.
According to Nielsen ratings, the channel has averaged just 136,000
viewers a day.
