If you were to ask anyone in the United States and Canada who the undisputed queen of television is, you would get one answer. The name of Oprah Winfrey is more than just household, it is in a league of its own, and her influence over her years on television has spread all across North America. She is the standard that other television personalities try to meet, though it is unlikely that will be done during her own years on air. And Harpo Studios, the company which Oprah operates, is based right here in a Chicago IL zip code.

The most well known offering from Harpo Studios is of course The Oprah Winfrey Show, featuring the great lady herself. The show has been on the air since the 1980s, and has increased steadily in viewership during its years. In the early days, Winfrey was not much different than a host of other daytime talk show hosts, seeking through the show to appeal to the emotional and bored stay at home parent, through topics such as whether or not people should use Edmonton liposuction to lose weight or not.

However, Winfrey transformed the show into a much more sensitive and cerebral offering, the format that most people know and love today. Her topics are vast, during any given week she may interview a movie star, explore pressing social or international issues, or endorse products such as organic baby shampoo. This format is the reason why her show is by far the most watched program on television, with upwards of 20 million people watching each week, possibly as many as 20 million on a day. Those are numbers that most production studios would kill for!

Harpo Studios does not just air the Oprah Winfrey show, although as we said earlier that is its most familiar offering. The studios also develop long feature television shows and feature films. More often than not, these are pet projects of Winfrey's (you don't own your own business and set it up to serve the interests of others) which present stories of the lives of minorities and women in America.

The studios also produce a number of different shows for Harpo Radio. These shows center largely on health, spirituality, and social concerns. Various experts discuss the benefits of using test weights in exercise, the journey of the soul, parenting, and other popular topics amongst Oprah's largest following (American women.)

Whether it is in book selection, presidential candidate preference, or garden tools, there is no doubt that the voice of Oprah Winfrey is one of the most heeded in the entire United States. And that voice is projected from Harpo studios, right here in the great city of Chicago.