Oprah's Last Show Delivers Highest Ratings in 17 Years

9:48 AM PDT 5/26/2011 by Marisa Guthrie

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The last installment of Oprah Winfrey’s daytime talk show averages a 13.3 household rating, capping a three-day farewell.

Oprah Winfrey’s final broadcast delivered the talker’s highest household ratings in 17 years. The show, which had Winfrey reminiscing about 25 years in daytime, averaged a 13.3 household rating, according to preliminary ratings from Nielsen. (Total viewer numbers will be released in two weeks.)

Oprah Through the Years

It was the highest household average since the February 21, 1994 installment “People Shed their Disguises,” during which Winfrey convinced guests to stop hiding behind questionable style and grooming choices.

Wednesday’s installment -- which featured no guests but simply had Winfrey talking intimately to her studio audience (and viewers at home) about love, God and self-acceptance — was the ratings pinnacle in a three-day farewell tour for Winfrey.

Monday’s episode, part 1 of the United Center extravaganza featuring a cavalcade of celebrities, scored a 10.2 metered market household rating while Tuesday’s installment, averaged a 10.7.

Winfrey, of course, is exiting daytime talk to focus her energies on her cable network OWN, which has struggled since its launch last January. Reruns of The Oprah Winfrey Show will begin airing on OWN in the fall with Winfrey providing new content to freshen them up.