CBS CBS Corp

By Joe Flint 

CBS is adding some star power to its venerable Sunday night news magazine "60 Minutes."

Oprah Winfrey, the former queen of daytime television turned entertainment mogul, will be a special contributor to "60 Minutes" starting in the fall, the network announced Tuesday.

"I'm so excited and proud to join forces with this historic news program, which for me represents the bastion of journalistic storytelling," Ms. Winfrey said in a statement. "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."

Already the highest rated news magazine and consistent performer in its Sunday 7 p.m. time slot, the addition of Ms. Winfrey may help bring in more viewers in the 25-54 demographic. While "60 Minutes" is still very strong, its audience is aging. According to Nielsen, the show's median age is about 62.

Ms. Winfrey is no stranger to the probing interviews of major figures that are a staple of "60 Minutes." In a 2013 sit-down interview with Ms. Winfrey, cyclist Lance Armstrong confessed to his history of using performance enhancing drugs throughout much of his career.

"Her body of work is extraordinary," said "60 Minutes" Executive Producer Jeff Fager, who added that Ms. Winfrey will bring a "unique and powerful voice to our broadcast."

CBS didn't say how often Ms. Winfrey would appear on the show. Next season, "60 Minutes" will face new competition from NBC, which is launching a newsmagazine starring former Fox News personality Megyn Kelly, who has often cited Ms. Winfrey and another CBS News personality -- Charlie Rose -- as professional role models.

Besides hosting the groundbreaking "Oprah Winfrey Show," Ms. Winfrey is a co-owner with Discovery Communications Inc. in the cable network OWN and is the founder of Harpo Productions, which produces popular daytime shows "Dr. Phil," "Dr. Oz" and "Rachael Ray."

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2017 11:03 ET (16:03 GMT)

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