Or rather I
should say dropped the Oprah Channel, because it happened over a week ago with little fanfare. But the Sirius
XM Satellite radio network did indeed put an end to the Oprah Channel, after an
eight year run.

In an official
statement, Sirius said: “Harpo Radio
and SiriusXM have announced that the production of Oprah Radio content on SiriusXM
ended effective Jan. 1. Since its launch, the channel has provided informative
and uplifting daily programming for SiriusXM listeners who are striving to live
their best lives."

In Winfrey’s
original deal with the network, which was signed in 2006, she was paid $55 million over three years, essentially for
the network to have the right officially put her name on the channel.

In return, Winfrey only had to personally provide only an hour of programming a week (hey,
nice work if you can get it), while the rest of the channel was made up of original shows, like Gayle King’s show,
which were repeated to fill the 24-hour format (And as I
have said before, don’t be hatin’ on Gayle.
Actually I’m jealous of her. I wish I had a really close billionaire friend who
gave me all kinds of jobs and favors for just hanging around. Wouldn’t you? Of course
you would. Some people just have all the luck).

However, it
is reported that, when Winfrey’s contract was renegotiated in 2009, the amount she
was paid was a lot less. But, evidently, last year, Sirius felt that the ratings
and the money the Oprah Channel was making for the network, wasn’t worth it.