TV & VIDEO - Sept. 19, 1988

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey should now be called TV mogul Oprah Winfrey: She will soon become the first black to own a major television and film production studio. Winfrey, who recently acquired ownership of her nationally syndicated talk show, is leading a small group of investors in purchasing an 88,000-square-foot TV and film production facility on Chicago’s West Side. The 30-year-old Fred Niles Studios, which four years ago became Studio Network Inc., will be renamed Harpo Studios once the deal is closed, expected in a few days. No purchase price was given, but the investors say the total cost of acquiring, renovating and equipping the facility will be more than $10 million.