Oprah is Up and Down Again – No, I’m not talking about her weight.  Enough about that already. Oprah Winfrey just moved back to the Number One position by Forbes.com’s, ‘100 Most Powerful Celebrities,’ but seems to be faltering where she used dominate – on television.

Winfrey, the self-made business tycoon with her Harpo Productions, earned about $315 million in the last 12 months. She’s her own Publisher’s Clearinghouse winning number. When you’re bringing in numbers like that, you’d think that life in Cabo with a house on the beach and a staff would be enough, but Oprah is not like the rest of us. Oprah got her start on television and has branded herself across the media with a magazine, an Academy Award nomination, multitudes of Daytime Emmy awards, and soon, OWN – her own TV channel in a partnership with Discovery Communications.

That’s how big Oprah is. Susan Sarandon pitches projects to people like Oprah. In short, when Oprah sees success, she sees another opportunity for more success and goes right after it.

Then, along came Judy. Judge Judy. In direct competition against the long-time reigning Queen of Daytime, Judge Judy is almost anti-Oprah. Where Oprah encourages her guests and audience members to engage in conversation, the Judge wants short and direct answers to her questions. Where Oprah tries to understand, Judy tells the plaintiff they’re an idiot for believing the defendant’s lies. Oprah has a Book Club. Judy wants to see a contract. Nowadays, Judge Judy is getting the majority of audience’s attention – 2 million more viewers at last count – and the Oprah Winfrey Show just hit a 3.0 share which is an all-time low in its 24 year run.

It’s quite possible that the lame duck factor is quacking away here on the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’. Winfrey announced that this would be her last year on the show but she’s got her OWN channel coming on in January so long-time devotees could just be watching the Judge while they wait for Oprah’s next chapter.

In the meantime, Oprah will just have to settle for monetary dominance in the industry and shrug her shoulders all the way to the bank.