Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes

Oprah Winfrey began her broadcasting career at WVOL radio in Nashville while still in high school. At the age of 19, Oprah Winfrey became the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. Oprah Winfrey then relocated to Baltimore's WJZ-TV to co-anchor the "Six O'Clock News" and later went on to become co-host of its local talk show, "People Are Talking."

In 1984, Oprah Winfrey moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, "AM Chicago," which became the number one local talk show—surpassing ratings for "Donahue"—just one month after she began. In less than a year, the show expanded to one hour and was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show." It entered national syndication in 1986, becoming the highest-rated talk show in television history. In 1988, Oprah Winfrey established Harpo Studios, a production facility in Chicago, making her the third woman in the American entertainment industry (after Mary Pickford and Lucille Ball) to own her own studio.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" has remained the number one talk show for 20 consecutive seasons. Produced by her own production company, Harpo Productions, Inc., the show is seen by an estimated 48 million viewers a week in the United States and is broadcast internationally in 126 countries. (Source: OWN)