Who Will Replace Oprah?

Now that the initial shock of Oprah leaving is beginning to subside, it's time to consider what comes next.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" has a following of approximately 7 million viewers daily, according to the AP. That means that those 7 million people are going to be looking for someone, or something, else to watch.

Larry Gerbrandt, an analyst for Media Valuation Partners in Los Angeles, spoke about the amazing opportunity that Oprah's exit offers for a new big face in talk show hosting.

"You haven't had a time period like this open up in 25 years," Gerbrandt said. "It really gives the players a chance to reshuffle the deck.

Possible replacements include Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, who both got their starts because of Ms. Winfrey and now enjoy considerable ratings and viewership.

Ellen DeGeneres could also move into the 4 p.m. slot now that the reigning Queen of talk plans to move out.

"Ellen is probably in the best position to move into that role," Jerry Springer commented.

Still, there is the option of replacing Winfrey with something completely different from the talk show. ABC could choose to simply air another hour of local news or the longtime courtroom favorite "Judge Judy" could take the prized time slot.

With all the talk of Oprah leaving, it's easy to forget the likelihood of Oprah keeping her viewership. After leaving the ABC show, Oprah plans to go to the new OWN cable network. Once there, she could very likely program her own show and destroy all hopes of possible replacements.