Harpo Productions is an American multimediaproduction company founded by Oprah Winfrey and based in West Hollywood, California. It is the sole subsidiary of her media and entertainment companyHarpo, Inc. The name "Harpo" is "Oprah" spelled backwards, and it was also the name of her on-screen husband in The Color Purple. Harpo Productions' subsidiaries consist of Harpo Print, the company's publishing house, and a minority interest in cable networkOprah Winfrey Network — in 2017, Discovery Communications purchased 24.5% of OWN for $70 million, leaving Harpo with 25.5% ownership. Harpo previously controlled 50% of OWN. Past subsidiaries include Harpo Films, the company's film studio which shut down in early 2013, and Harpo Radio, the company's radio broadcasting division that shuttered on January 1, 2015. The company was previously based in Chicago, with Harpo Studios situated in the West Loop of the Near West Side neighborhood. The building was demolished in 2016, and new headquarters for McDonald's opened on the site in 2018.
Divisions
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)
On January 1, 2011, the Oprah Winfrey Network launched. It is co-owned by Harpo Studios and Discovery Communications, Inc. The network replaced the Discovery Health Channel, a cable channel previously owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. The network initially had a variety of new shows, including some hosted by the stable of experts Winfrey has cultivated on her daytime talk show including: The Gayle King Show, Our America with Lisa Ling, In The Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman and Enough Already! with Peter Walsh.
Harpo Print, LLC
Together with Hearst Magazines, Harpo Print, LLC publishes O, The Oprah Magazine. The company also published O at Home, which Hearst officially folded in 2008 after a four-year run. In July 2020, it was announced that O, The Oprah Magazine will end its regular print edition after the December 2020 issue.
Other properties
Harpo Studios
Harpo Studios was the home of The Oprah Winfrey Show, from January 15, 1990. located in Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago. The set also housed The Rosie Show, an American evening television talk show which was hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell, airing on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Harpo Studios has Emmy Award-winning teams in production designs, lighting, camerawork, editing, audio direction and graphic design. It also served as the location for the set of The Women of Brewster Place. Scenes from Beloved were also filmed on a set in Harpo Studios. The studio was sold to developer Sterling Bay in 2014 and was demolished in 2016. The site would be home to the new global headquarters of McDonald's. The land where the production studio formerly sat once housed the 2nd Regiment Armory that was used as a makeshift morgue for victims of the capsizing of the steamer SS Eastland. The facility was renovated and opened in the late 1980s for her show.
Former divisions
Harpo Films, Inc.
Founded in 1993, Harpo Films, Inc. was the biggest division of Harpo Productions, run by Kate Forte for 18 years. It was an active supplier of motion pictures, developing and producing award-winning features and television programs, including the "Oprah Winfrey Presents" telefilms for the ABC television network. Harpo Films was based in Los Angeles, California. In late 2008, Harpo Films signed an exclusive output pact with HBO. Previously, Harpo Films had a deal with ABC, which included production of . In February 2013, Harpo Films was shut down, citing that "the demand for long-form projects, especially on the broadcast side, has dried out." Many of its employees will move on to Harpo Studios' new scripted series division.
Harpo Radio, Inc. was the holding company for the Oprah & Friends channel. Oprah & Friends featured a broad range of daily and weekly programming on a variety of topics including self-improvement, nutrition, fitness, parenting, health, home, finance and current events hosted by personalities from The Oprah Winfrey Show and O, The Oprah Magazine. Regular presenters included specialists from a variety of fields, including Dr. Maya Angelou, Robin Smith, Marianne Williamson, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene, Nate Berkus, Jean Chatzky, Gayle King, Rabbi Shumley Boteach, Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete, and Michael Losier. Oprah, herself, also personally interviewed some of the most influential voices in the spiritual realm on her weekly program, Oprah's Soul Series. Harpo Radio, Inc. produced and broadcast the Oprah & Friends channel from an XM studio in Chicago, Illinois, from New York, New York. It shut down on January 1, 2015.
