Six years after her daytime talk show ended, Oprah Winfrey is returning to her broadcast television roots.
The world’s richest TV personality will join the CBS news program 60 Minutes, where she first appeared as a guest back in 1986, as a special contributor this fall, the network announced on Jan 31.
The CBS telecast of Winfrey’s interview with now-former US first lady Michelle Obama just weeks ago reached 9.39 million US viewers—proving that the first lady of TV can still draw an audience.
In her new role, Winfrey will examine cultural divides in the US. “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,” Winfrey said in a statement.
The media mogul became a household name in the 1980s, ’90s, and 2000s with The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran for 25 years. During that time, Winfrey interviewed everyone from average American families to elusive celebrities like Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise to political heavyweights such as Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela. The show, which ended in 2011, was reportedly the highest-rated talk show in US history.
Since then, Winfrey has overseen her production company Harpo Productions and a magazine called O: The Oprah Magazine. In 2011, she launched a cable TV channel, The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), with Discovery Communications. Last year, she became the face of the diet company Weight Watchers, in which she owns a 10% stake. And she has acted in and produced several TV shows and films. She is slated to appear in Disney’s forthcoming film A Wrinkle in Time.
“Her body of work is extraordinary, including thousands of interviews with people from all walks of life,” 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager said in a statement. “I am thrilled that she will be bringing her unique and powerful voice to our broadcast.”