Winfrey to announce show will end in 2011

Chicago — “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” an iconic broadcast that grew over two decades into a daytime television powerhouse and the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, Winfrey’s production company said Thursday night.

Winfrey plans to announce the final date for her show during a live broadcast today, Harpo Productions Inc. said, bringing an end to what has been television’s top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.

A Harpo spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday on Winfrey’s future plans except to say that “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will not move to cable television.

Winfrey is widely expected to start up a new talk show on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a much-delayed joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. that is expected to debut in 2011.

Final season of ‘Lost’ to begin Feb. 2

Los Angeles — ABC says the final season of “Lost” will begin in February with a night devoted to the drama.

An hourlong special recounting the story line so far will air at 7 p.m. CST Tuesday, Feb. 2, followed by the two-hour season premiere.

“Lost” will move to its regular 8-9 p.m. CST time slot beginning the following week, on Feb. 9, the network said Thursday.

The series about an airplane crash on a mysterious island and its aftermath is ending after six seasons.

Chaz Bono: Sex change is his ‘best decision’

New York — Chaz Bono says beginning the sex-change process to turn him from a woman to a man is “the best decision I’ve ever made.”

The 40-year-old writer, activist and reality-TV star, who was born a girl to Sonny Bono and Cher, says he’s eight months into the years-long transformation and says he feels great.

Formerly called Chastity, he told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday: “Life is short and life is precious. This is who I am. I need to finally be who I am.”

Bono says he always felt like a boy growing up and came out as a lesbian 11 years ago. Now he’s undergone gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy.

He tells ABC: “To me, gender is between your ears, not between your legs. I’ve felt male as far back as I can remember.”

Brown gets ‘extremely favorable’ report

Los Angeles — Chris Brown has received an “extremely favorable” report from probation officials overseeing his felony assault case, a judge said Thursday.

Brown appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom to offer a judge his first progress report since being sentenced for beating ex-girlfriend Rihanna earlier this year.

The R&B singer is serving five years of probation and must attend domestic violence counseling and perform six months of community labor in Virginia.