Oprah Winfrey Forced to Delete Promotional Nielsen Tweet

Posted on February 14, 2012

Oprah tweeted a self-promotional tweet on Sunday that got her into trouble with the Nielsen ratings people. Oprah tweeted, "Every 1 who can please turn to OWN especially if u have a Neilsen box."

There is nothing wrong with Oprah asking her 9 million+ followers to tune in, but she might want to mention a specific show of interest instead of the blunt "tune to OWN." It was adding the Nielsen bit to her tweet that caused a big problem. She was forced to remove the tweet. Oprah told the New York Times, "I removed the tweet at the request of Nielsen. I intended no harm and apologize for the reference."

The incident is not over for Oprah. It will generate a future asterisk. The New York Times says Nielsen is going to place an asterisk to OWN's Nielsen ratings because of the tweet.

Oprah Winfrey can be found on Twitter, @Oprah.