Oprah Winfrey returned to the couch yesterday for the first time since her famed TV show ended last May.
The former talk show queen appeared for an hour on Facebook with a vintage performance that included Winfrey’s advocacy of daily meditation, what her legacy might be (too soon to tell) and the one interview she’s desperate to do.
For the record, it’s OJ Simpson. “I just want to hear him say he did it and I’ll be happy,” she said.
At least as important as the interview is where it took place — online.
The decision to appear on Facebook, instead of TV, to spread her positive energy message appears to be a way for Winfrey to increase her profile among social media users and to draw people to her new cable network, OWN, and her flagging Web site, Oprah.com.
The Web site has taken a downturn in visitor traffic since her afternoon TV show ended — with unique user hits falling by about half, from 5.1 million last January to 2.4 million in July, according to comScore.
Her popular site — which drew hits from cross-promotion on “Oprah” — was her big contribution to the fledgling OWN Network.
Discovery Communications, a 50/50 partner with Oprah, put up the channel — the former Discovery Health — and most of the start-up money for OWN.
Oprah had been invited to yesterday’s show by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, dubbed the most powerful woman in Silicon Valley.
The wide-ranging live chat was conducted by Sandberg at the company’s Palo Alto, Calif. headquarters.
In the interview, Winfrey also addressed the topic of fear, saying that she “never had fear until I started [OWN].”
She added that part of her fear, in finding shows that “come from a space of truth and a space of light,” stems from “the fear of whether or not I’m ahead of my time,” she said, given the popularity of “lowest common denominator.”
“I fundamentally believe that people are yearning for something more,” she said.
“But if you look at what’s on television right now, it doesn’t look that way. The fear is, I hope I’m right.”
As for being CEO of OWN, she said, “I’m very familiar with myself and what I can do, it’s very different choosing other shows and trying to feel, ‘Will this work?’
“It’s a lot harder than I ever imagined. If anybody asks if you want a network, think about that.”
Winfrey took questions from Facebook staffers as well as users.
She also engaged in a lightning round of things that she prefers, picking tea over coffee, tequila over wine, the journey over the destination and thin crust over deep dish pizza.