Most guests at one time.........176 (for the "Welcome Home Team USA's Olympic Stars" episode, September 2008)
"The Olympic medalist episode was one of the most challenging for us to put together. My team booked all 176 athletes in less than a week. Each of us was in charge of a different group—'You're women's volleyball!' 'You're BMXers!' When Oprah came out and the confetti started falling, I cried like a baby. It was such a huge feat."
—Cindy Mori, booking and talent relations director
Number of countries in which the
Oprah show is broadcast................145
Hour at which it's most commonly broadcast in the U.S........4 P.M.
Because the show aired just after school, it found a special following among teachers—and sneaky students. A few of their stories:
"I started watching in 1995 when I was a new first-grade teacher. I loved my job, but was overwhelmed and filled with doubts. Every afternoon I'd tune in from my classroom while I prepped for the next day. And when the show ended at 5 o'clock, I gave myself permission to go home." —Jennifer Liebi-Zelazny, 39, Los Angeles
"I was 10 when I saw my first episode with my two older sisters,and from that day on, 4 P.M. meant sisterhood: We were bonded in secrecy because we were watching instead of doing homework." —Julia Kim, 35, Washington, D.C.
"Both my parents were teachers, so we spent most of our afternoons together. One day my dad told us he'd heard about a great new show called Ophra. We watched in our kitchen and were hooked from the start. My dad died in 1992, and called her "Ophra" till the end. —Gwynne Lynch, 42, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Number of audience members per show...............between 315 and 365
"The trick was getting the right audience for a given topic. Back in the day, we'd put voice-overs at the end of soap operas: 'If you're cheating on your husband, call this number.' Then we'd spend all afternoon answering the phones: 'Oprahpleasehold. Oprahpleasehold. Oprahpleasehold...'" —Sally Lou Loveman, senior audience producer
Approximate total of audience members over 25 seasons........1.3 million
Letters received via U.S. mail over 25 seasons.........................20 million+
Episode that got the most happy mail:
the 2004 season premiere, when 276 audience members received brand-new Pontiac G6s
Episode that got the most angry mail: the 2006 show on which
James Frey admitted to fudging parts of his memoir,
A Million Little Pieces—an Oprah Book Club selection. (Some blamed Oprah for not vetting the book; others, for being too hard on Frey.)
Approximate number of guests since 1986..........28,000
Number of guests who were U.S. presidents........................5 (not to mention 5 First Ladies, 7 princes, 6 princesses, 1 reigning queen, 1 former queen, 1 earl, 1 lord, 1 count, and 1 duchess)
Appearances by Celine Dion, the most frequent female guest (not counting Gayle King, 139)..............................27
Appearances by
Chris Rock, the most frequent male guest (not counting Dr. Phil, 118;
Dr. Oz, 62; and
Nate Berkus, 51)........................25
And in case you were wondering: Appearances by
Suze Orman......26
Number of selections chosen for
Oprah's Book Club................65
Number of schools, in 12 countries, built by Oprah's Angel Network......55
Number of Favorite Things chosen since 1996........................283
We Take the Cake's total profits in 2004, just before their key lime Bundt cake was chosen...........$19
We Take the Cake's total sales by the end of 2005.....................$840,000
