Oprah Winfrey's final countdown

Who can kick off a one-hour TV broadcast with a devastating story about a 5-year-old girl who was found dead after having been allegedly sold by her mother into prostitution and then raped and asphyxiated — and by the end of the show all anyone is talking about is the show host?

Oprah — that's who!

About half an hour after Oprah Winfrey opened Friday's show with an update on the story of Shaniya Davis, and a gut-wrenching interview with the child's father and aunt, the daytime talk-show diva stood alone onstage and delivered the statement she'd promised her studio audience at the top of the programme: "After much prayer and months of careful thought, I've decided the next season, Season 25, will be the last season of The Oprah Winfrey Show," she intoned dramatically, confirming what her production company had announced to TV stations the previous evening.

Winfrey's last broadcast of her daytime syndicated programme will be September 9, 2011. "Why walk away and make the next season the last? Here is the real reason: I love this show. This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it's time to say goodbye. Twenty-five years feels right in my bones, and it feels right in my spirit. It's the perfect number, the exact right time. So I hope you will take this 18-month ride with me right through to the finale show."

New venture

Some would argue it's also necessary, if she's ever going to get launched her much-delayed Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), a joint venture with Discovery Communications.

When OWN was announced last year, the game plan was to get it up and running in the second half of 2009. But it stalled for various reasons and reports surfaced earlier this month that Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav was urging Winfrey to focus all her attention on the new venture.

"These years with you — our viewers, have enriched my life beyond all measure," Winfrey said, choking up, while her studio audience whispered a respectful "Aww!"

"Twenty-four years ago, on September 8, 1986, I went live from Chicago to launch the first national Oprah Winfrey Show. I was beyond excited, and, as you might expect, a little nervous," Oprah said, looking emotionally into the camera.

"I knew then what a miraculous opportunity I had been given."

Friday is Winfrey's last taping day of her show for the rest of the calendar year. On Friday's broadcast, Winfrey said that during the break, she and her team will brainstorm about how to wrap up the show's quarter-century run: "Season 25, we are going to knock your socks off. So the countdown to the end of The Oprah Winfrey Show starts now.

"And, until that day in 2011 when it ends, I intend to soak up every meaningful, joyful moment with you."