Oprah Radio was a
talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
channel programmed by
Harpo Productions' radio division, and was signed exclusively for
Sirius XM Satellite Radio
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius ...
. The channel left
satellite radio
Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...
on December 31, 2014.
Oprah Radio included regular programming on topics such as current events, self-improvement, health, nutrition, fitness, and home. Friends and contributors included:
Gayle King,
Dr. Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Cengiz Öz (; born June 11, 1960), known professionally as Dr. Oz (), is an Turkish American former professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University, television presenter, author and former political candidate.
The son of Tur ...
,
Marianne Williamson,
Bob Greene
Robert Bernard Greene Jr. (born March 10, 1947) is an American journalist and author. He worked for 24 years for the ''Chicago Tribune'' newspaper, where he was a columnist. Greene has written books on subjects including Michael Jordan, Alice C ...
, and
Nate Berkus. On July 17, 2006, a preview loop of the channel began to air. The channel officially launched on September 25, 2006. In January 2008 it added Rabbi
Shmuley Boteach to host a national daily radio show named "The Rabbi Shmuley Show". The channel ceased operations January 1, 2015.
History
It was announced in June 2006 that former
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
regional VP John Gehron would act as general manager for Harpo Radio, Inc. On July 20, Laurie Cantillo was appointed program director of Harpo Radio. Cantillo had program director experience at stations including
KFYI,
KTAR, and
KGME. A week later, more staff was hired for the channel, including Corny Koehl (director of development), John St. Augustine, Katherine Kelly, Scott Miller, and Rita Coburn Whack (producers).
In September 2007, Oprah and Friends was added to the
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
lineup on channel 807.
Following the Sirius/XM merger, Oprah & Friends was added to Sirius on September 30, 2008, as part of its "Best of XM" package, and broadcast on channel 195 (it moved to channel 204 on May 4, 2011). On November 12, 2008, Oprah and Friends was removed from the DirecTV lineup.
In November 2008, John Gehron and Laurie Cantillo exited their positions at Oprah & Friends. Corny Koehl was named Executive Producer of the channel in charge of the creative side, and Katherine Kelly was named Operations Manager handling the day-to-day workings of the channel.
On March 4, 2009, Oprah and Friends was renamed and rebranded as Oprah Radio. Listeners tuned in on January 1, 2015, to an announcement explaining that the channel had ceased broadcasts on SiriusXM.
References
{{Oprah Winfrey
Digital-only radio stations
Harpo Productions
News and talk radio stations in the United States
Radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
Radio stations established in 2006
Radio stations disestablished in 2015
Sirius Satellite Radio channels
XM Satellite Radio channels
Defunct radio stations in the United States