Oprah Winfrey's "60 Minutes" special contributor debut will come on the show's 50th season launch Sept. 24, CBS News announced Thursday.
CBS News, which made the announcement that it signed Winfrey as a special contributor in January, did not reveal what her initial segment would cover, the Deadline.com noted. The appearance continues Winfrey's long-established ties with CBS, Variety said.
In 1999, CBS bought King World Productions, the syndicated-production house that launched "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Variety noted. Winfrey was a substantial King World shareholder, and she remains an executive producer of CBS' syndicated "Dr. Phil" talk show.
Winfrey has shown a knack for getting even the most famous actor or actress to disclose close-held feelings and emotions, Variety wrote. She hosted her award-winning talk show for 25 years and in 2009 launched the Oprah Winfrey Network with Discovery Communications.
"There is only one Oprah Winfrey," "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager said in January about Winfrey joining the newsmagazine, according to CBS News. "She has achieved excellence in everything she has touched. Her body of work is extraordinary, including thousands of interviews with people from all walks of life.
"She is a remarkable and talented woman with a level of integrity that sets her apart and makes her a perfect fit for '60 Minutes.' I am thrilled that she will be bringing her unique and powerful voice to our broadcast," he continued.
Deadline.com reported that "60 Minutes" averaged 12.42 million viewers over its 49th season, made Nielsen's Top 10 weekly list 22 times, and was the only network newsmagazine to gain in overall audience this season, finishing up 1 percent in viewers.
"60 Minutes" will be honored at the Emmy Awards ceremony Oct. 5 while Simon & Schuster, which is also owned by CBS, will publish "50 Years of 60 Minutes," a new book by Fager, on Oct. 24, Variety reported.
"I'm so excited and proud to join forces with this historic news program, which for me represents the bastion of journalistic storytelling," Winfrey said in CBS's statement in January. "At a time when people are so divided, my intention is to bring relevant insight and perspective, to look at what separates us, and help facilitate real conversations between people from different backgrounds."
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