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Her name is synonymous with daytime talk television. She gets the biggest guests, has the most loyal viewers and is one of the most powerful forces in contemporary media as well as contemporary American culture.

Oprah Winfrey started her media career at WVOL radio in Nashville while she was still a high school student. She soon was anchoring the news at Nashville’s WTVF-TV. She took a job in Baltimore co-anchoring the “6:00 O’Clock News” at WJZ-TV and then took over hosting that station’s local show, “People Are Talking.” In 1984, she made a big move to Chicago to host “AM Chicago” and before long the name of the program was changed to “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” In 1986, the show would be nationally syndicated by King World and soon became the highest-rated talk show of its kind.

To her viewers, Oprah Winfrey is the most trusted person on television. Her honest, open demeanor and take-no-prisoners approach to talk TV has made her so successful that a nod from her is as good as gold and her disapproval can be deadly. Her focus is strong on relationships and she’s one of the best at delivering sincere, in-depth discussion of human relations to her largely female audience.