Largest TV contract

In May 2003, Oprah Winfrey (USA) signed a contract worth $279 million (£175 million) with the American TV station, ABC, to host The Oprah Winfrey Show for an extra two years until 2008. Winfrey was due to retire from the show, which she has been hosting for 17 years, at the end of the 2005-2006 season, but has now extended it for two more seasons to 2007-2008. The show is amongst the highest rated daytime shows, with an average US weekly audience of 26 million. It is believed that she is worth £620 million ($990 million) in total.