*”The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which claims an average daily viewership of 6.2 million, continues to play a key role in sending new CD titles to the top slot of the U.S. album charts.
Variety is reporting that Michael Buble’s album “Crazy Love” debuted at No. 1 in mid-October, with 132,000 copies sold in just three days. His label, Warner Bros., had moved the release up to Oct. 9 to coincide with Buble’s appearance on Winfrey’s telecast.
“It had massive impact,” says Warner Bros. chief operating officer and Reprise Records president Diarmuid Quinn. “The thing about Oprah is, her audience follows what she endorses more than anyone else we’ve ever seen.… She has this validity you don’t see any more.”
Following Barbara Streisand’s “Oprah” appearance in late September, the vocalist scored her first No. 1 album in 12 years when “Love is the Answer” bowed at the top with first-week sales of 180,000.
Labels have also increasingly looked to Winfrey’s program to heighten the visibility of their biggest acts. Whitney Houston’s Sept. 14-15 shot on the show sparked a 77% increase in sales of her comeback album “I Look to You.”
A spokeswoman for Harpo Prods explains how musical guests are chosen.
“We receive hundreds, if not thousands, of music pitches with CDs every year,” she says. “Generally, we invite fairly well-established musicians on the show…. Sometimes, it just comes down to the right artist at the right time with the right song.”
Winfrey’s influence extends beyond the sale of new albums by major contemporary stars. Warner Bros. chief operating officer and Reprise Records president Diarmuid Quinn says new artist Charice sold 60,000 singles behind an appearance on the show. Also, veteran rock band Journey moved 10,000 copies – a 681% week-to-week increase – of its year-old album “Revelation” after an Oct. 5 guest shot.
“The thing about Oprah is, her audience follows what she endorses more than anyone else we’ve ever seen,” says Quinn. “She has this validity you don’t see any more.”
“Oprah is the one thing everyone wants,” adds Keith Caulfield, senior chart analyst at Billboard. “If you get that call back from her production people, my God, it’s the Holy Grail.”
