Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, who worked in radio and television in Nashville and Baltimore during the 1970s and early 1980s, arrived in Chicago in 1984. Her Oprah Winfrey Show, which started in 1985, became one of the most popular talk shows on American television. In 1986, Winfrey founded Harpo Productions Inc., a production company that used her first name spelled backwards. In 1988, the company took full charge of Winfrey's show, which was produced in new facilities on the city's Near West Side. By the late 1990s, Winfrey's show had about 20 million regular viewers, and Harpo Productions had annual revenues of about $150 million with about 200 Chicago employees.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.