Harpo Productions (orHarpo Studios) is an Americanmultimediaproductioncompany founded byOprah Winfrey and based inWest Hollywood, California.^[1][2] The name "Harpo" is "Oprah"spelled backwards, and it was also the name of her on-screen husband in the filmThe Color Purple (1985).

Harpo Productions

The current logo of Harpo Studios, used since 2010
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Media
Founded	1986; 39 years ago (1986)
Founder	Oprah Winfrey
Headquarters	Chicago,Illinois(1986–2015) West Hollywood,California(2015–present)[1][2]
Key people	Oprah Winfrey (chairwoman &CEO) Terry Wood (executive vice-president)
Owner	Oprah Winfrey[3][4]
Number of employees	12,554 (2012)
Parent	Harpo, Inc.
Divisions	Harpo Print Oprah Winfrey Network (joint venture withWarner Bros. Discovery; Warner Bros. Discovery holds a controlling stake, while Harpo is considered a "significant" “minority” shareholder)

The company's origins can trace back to 1985 when Oprah appeared inThe Color Purple. Winfrey founded her own company in 1986.

Oprah Winfrey got her roots in 1988 when Harpo Productions had to acquireher eponymous talk show fromABC O&OWLS-TV in Chicago, and automatically renewed its deal withKing World Productions, who held minority interest, which was set to expire in 1991.^[5]

Harpo Productions' subsidiaries consist of Harpo Print, the company's publishing house, and a minority interest in cable networkOprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Harpo originally owned 50% of OWN along withDiscovery Communications, which purchased 24.5% of OWN in 2017^[6][7] and a further 20.5% in 2020,^[8] leaving Harpo with 5% ownership.^[6][7]

Past subsidiaries include Harpo Films, the company's film studio which shut down in early 2013, andHarpo Radio, the company's radio broadcasting division that shuttered on January 1, 2015.^[9] The company was previously based inChicago, with Harpo Studios situated in the West Loop neighborhood. The building was demolished in 2016, and new headquarters forMcDonald's opened on the site in 2018.^[10]

In January 2021, it was announced that Harpo Productions will produce an Oprah Winfrey documentary for Apple TV+.^[11] That documentary series became known asThe Me You Can't See, which Winfrey co-hosts withPrince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

On January 1, 2011, theOprah Winfrey Network (OWN) launched.^[12] It is co-owned by Harpo Studios (5%) andWarner Bros. Discovery (95%).^[6] The network replaced theDiscovery 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:TheGayle King Show,Our America with Lisa Ling,In The Bedroom withDr. Laura Berman andEnough Already! with Peter Walsh.

Together with Hearst Magazines, Harpo Print, LLC publishesO, The Oprah Magazine.^[13] The company also publishedO at Home, which Hearst officially folded in 2008 after a four-year run.^[14] In July 2020, it was announced thatO, The Oprah Magazine will end its regular print edition after the December 2020 issue.^[15][16] The December 2020 ofO Magazine featured an article where Oprah thanked readers and also acknowledged it was the magazine's "final monthly print edition."^[17]

Harpo Studios was the home ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show from January 15, 1990. located in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago. The studio also housedThe Rosie Show, an American evening television talk show which was hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell, airing on theOprah Winfrey Network. Harpo Studios hasEmmy Award–winning teams in productiondesigns,lighting,camerawork,editing,audio direction andgraphic design. It also served as the location for the set ofThe Women of Brewster Place. Scenes fromBeloved were also filmed on a set in Harpo Studios. The studio was sold to developer Sterling Bay in 2014 and was demolished in 2016.^[18] The site would be home to the new global headquarters ofMcDonald's.

The land where the production studio stood once housed the 2nd Regiment Armory that was used as a makeshift morgue for victims of the capsizing of the steamerSS Eastland.^[19] The 88,000-square-foot (8,200 m²) facility was renovated and opened in the late 1980s for her show.^[20]

Founded in 1993, Harpo Films, Inc. was the biggest division of Harpo Productions, run byKate Forte for 18 years. It was an active supplier ofmotion pictures, developing and producing award-winning features andlong-form television programs, including the "Oprah Winfrey Presents" telefilms for theABC television network. Harpo Films was based inLos Angeles, California.

In late 2008, Harpo Films signed an exclusive output pactwithHBO.^[21] Previously, Harpo Films had a deal withABC, which included production ofOprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day.^[21] In February 2013, Harpo Films was shut down, citing that "the demand for long-form projects, especially on the broadcast side, has dried out."^[22] Many of its employees were expected to move on to Harpo Studios' new scripted series division.^[22] A small number of films already in production were released under the Harpo Films banner in 2014. Since then, the label has appeared irregularly on various films for which Winfrey has served as a producer.

• Beloved (1998) (As producer; co-production withTouchstone Pictures and Clinica Estetico; distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution; first film)
• The Great Debaters (2007) (as producer; distributed byThe Weinstein Company &Metro Goldwyn Mayer)
• Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) (studio credit with34th Street Films; produced byLee Daniels Entertainment and Smokewood Entertainment; distributed byLionsgate)
• The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) (As producer; co-production withTouchstone Pictures,DreamWorks Pictures,Reliance Entertainment,Participant Media,ImageNation Abu Dhabi andAmblin Entertainment; distributed byWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in Worldwide andMister Smith Entertainment inEMEA)
• Selma (under Harpo Productions, 2014) (as producer; co-production withPathé,Plan B Entertainment,Cloud Eight Films,Ingenious Media and Redgill Selma Productions; distributed byParamount Pictures in United States and20th Century Fox in United Kingdom)
• The Water Man (2021) (as producer; co-production with ShivHans Pictures and Yoruba Saxon Productions; distributed byRLJE Films in United States and Internationally byNetflix)
• The Color Purple (2023) (as producer (credited onscreen as OW Films); co-production withAmblin Entertainment and Scott Sanders Productions; distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures)^[23]

• Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day
• Tuesdays with Morrie
• Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Amy & Isabelle
• David & Lisa
• The Wedding
• Before Women Had Wings

Harpo Radio, Inc. was the holding company for theOprah & Friends channel (156 onXM Satellite Radio). 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 fromThe Oprah Winfrey Show andO, The Oprah Magazine.

Regular presenters included specialists from a variety of fields, includingDr. Maya Angelou,Marianne Williamson,Dr. Mehmet Oz,Bob Greene,Nate Berkus,Jean Chatzky,Gayle King, RabbiShmuley Boteach, andHolly Robinson Peete andRodney Peete. 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 anXM studio inChicago, Illinois, fromNew York, New York. It shut down on January 1, 2015.^[9]

• Harpo ProductionsArchived January 13, 2020, at theWayback Machine