Oprah's (sort of) big event

JP Morgan analyst Michael Meltz says that Winfrey's decision to leave broadcast TV is not a huge problem for CBS, which has been syndicating the show through King World, or for ABC, which has been running it in most of its major markets (including this one). For what it's worth, stocks of both companies fell a bit today (CBS more than Disney), but these are huge companies whose CEOs (and shareholders) are far more concerned about whether their stations can get back the auto and retail advertising that fell off a cliff in 2009. More from Meltz via Media Memo:

--The show made $50 million a year for CBS, which syndicated the program. CBS would rather have that money than not, but losing it will amount to a "rounding error" in 2012.

--The show was a big ratings hit for local TV stations, but they paid a lot for it-upward of $200,000 a week in big markets. That made it a loss-leader for most broadcasters, Meltz says.

--And yes, the show provided a big lead-in audience to local TV news broadcasts, particularly in top ABC markets. But given that it's not going to end up on a rival broadcast channel, "it is conceivable that station audience/ad share won't change much for the day-part."