Australian Oprahmania: by the numbers

Thousands of Oprah fans were screaming for their idol (and celebrity guests including Jay-Z, Jon Bon Jovi and Russell Crowe) at the renamed “Oprah House” in Sydney this morning. So just how big is the American multi-media gigastar? Crikey runs the numbers…

$US2,300,000,000 net worth.

$US385,000,000 estimated annual salary.

$71,000,000 estimated domestic benefit to Australian tourism from her trip Down Under (and another $14 million in the US, to date).

$US40,000,000 donated to charity in 2009, ranking Oprah first among American celebrity benefactors. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation has put hundreds of girls through school in South Africa, Oprah’s Angel Network donates to projects in America and The Oprah Winfrey Foundation gives grants to needy not-for-profit groups.

7,400,000 daily viewers of the Oprah Winfrey Show in the US, about 2.6% of American households.

4,687,105 Twitter followers.

4,101,390 “like” her TV show on Facebook.

$3,000,000-4,000,000 the “small investment” by federal and state government bodies to lure Oprah to Australia, according to Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson.

$US3,000,000 raised for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

2,907,504 was Oprah’s score on Time Magazine‘s social influence list (factoring in social media activity), ranking fifth behind Barack Obama (7.7 million), Lady Gaga (6.6 million), Ashton Kutcher (6.3 million) and Taylor Swift (5.6 million).

662,304 paid circulation for O, Oprah’s monthly magazine. The last circulation audit saw sales rise 5.8%.

350,000 Australian fans registered for a ticket to the Sydney shows.

53,026 members of the South Sydney Football Club, after Russell Crowe convinced Oprah to join yesterday.

30,489 media mentions of Oprah’s visit to Australia (courtesy of Media Monitors).

1200 Australian audience members chosen by lottery to attend two Opera House shows.

302 members of Oprah’s audience flown to Australia for her all-expenses-paid adventure holiday (all carefully chosen and worthy of the perk, Oprah said yesterday).

200 American crew flown to Australia to film the extravaganza.

145 countries screen Oprah’s TV show, which is in its 25th and final season. Next year the TV mega-star will launch her own cable network, OWN.

38th out of 50 on a list of the world’s most influential people in 2010.

35 Emmy Awards won by Oprah and her TV show.

19:1 ratio of female to male viewers of the show.

18 tonnes of equipment flown in by her TV producers.

3 Irwins appeared on Oprah’s show this morning: Terri, Bindi and Bob. A video played of Steve and apparently Terri broke down when little 6-year-old Bob started talking about his dad. And then Bob started crying…

2 shows filmed outside the Sydney Oprah House, with another two to be compiled from footage of Oprah’s Australian tour.

1 man, 65-year-old pensioner Alan Lett, slept in the Royal Botanical Gardens last night to catch a glimpse of his idol. He doesn’t have tickets to the show. He told AAP:

“I only hope some way Oprah finds out about me and I get to meet her. She’s a beautiful person, so kind. I’ve been watching her for over 30 years. She’s the best thing, just about, that’s ever come to Australia.”

So what did Oprah’s crazed fans witness this morning? According to several tweeting journos in attendance — including Amanda Meade for The Australian and Mamamia‘s Mia Freedman — new pal Crowe was a little dishevelled (Jeff Bridgesy, even) for his chat, while the Irwins were decked out in their obligatory khakis draped with a python.

Footage is shown of when Jay-Z — Beyonce’s absence was noted — went and hung out at Canterbury Boys School, a disadvantaged school in Sydney’s west after their teacher wrote a letter to Oprah. Microsoft then donated a computer to each student and teachers. It’s such a good idea, you’d barely know it was stolen from Kevin Rudd. Plus, the school also gets a library and music room makeover — the total package worth $1 million.

A Sydney cancer sufferer — who became a mini-celeb after his tear-jerker video wishing his wife a happy birthday, including cameos from the NZ prime minister and Hugh Jackman went viral — was given $250,000 care of XBox.

Jon Bon Jovi performed Living on a Prayer and apparently all of Sydney sang along. Why Jay-Z and Jon Bon Jovi featured, as opposed to the plethora of good Australian music acts, is a mystery.

As a parting gift, Oprah announced all 6000 audience members from this morning’s taping will receive a South Sea pearl necklace by Kailis. Cue journalist freaking out about whether they also get the free gear.