Oprah Winfrey returns to chat in her next TV chapter

Reuters

Oprah Winfrey, Chairman, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, speaks during the OWN session at the 2011 Summer Television Critics Association Cable Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California July 29, 2011. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is moving on to her next chapter, going out of the TV studio to meet and chat with celebrities on their own turf. Less than a year after she ended "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in May after 25 years, Winfrey will launch "Oprah's Next Chapter" in January on her fledgling cable TV channel OWN. The two-hour debut episode on January 1 will feature Winfrey talking with Aerosmith frontman and "American Idol" judge Steven Tyler at his family home in New Hampshire.

Tyler, 63, will talk about his drug addiction, his love life and his new-found fame on "American Idol", OWN said on Friday. Tyler found new fans after signing up for the TV talent show with Jennifer Lopez last year, helping to boost audiences. In future weeks, Oprah will go to Haiti with actor Senn Penn to look at recovery efforts from the 2010 earthquake, tour Skywalker Ranch with "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, and "celebrate the power of God and community" with televangelist Joel Osteen. "After 25 years I got myself out of the studio chairs. I moved into the next chapter, and I am having more fun than ever -- moving around the country and the world talking to people I'm really interested in getting to know and I think viewers will be, too," Winfrey said in a statement.

Winfrey, regarded as the most influential woman on television, launched the Oprah Winfrey Network in January 2011 with an uplifting menu of lifestyle, documentaries and advice programing. After disappointing viewing figures, she took over as chief executive officer in July to refocus the channel's direction and put more of herself on screen. "Oprah's Next Chapter" follows the launch in October of "Oprah's Lifeclass" in which Winfrey shared insights, life lessons and old clips from her 25-year run on U.S. television.