MUMBAI: The queen of the talk show genre Oprah Winfrey will receive the 2005 International Emmy Founders Award, presented by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS).

Winfrey will accept the Award at the 33rd International Emmy Awards Gala, on 21 November 2005 in New York City.

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences claims to be the largest organisation of broadcasters, with members from nearly 70 countries and more than 350 companies. Winfrey joins a long list of luminaries who have been honoured with the Award, including Bill Cosby, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Jim Henson and Sir David Attenborough.

Winfrey, supervising producer and host of The Oprah Winfrey Show is internationally renowned for creating quality programming and connecting with her viewers. The Oprah Winfrey Show is broadcast in more than 100 countries. Through her Chicago-based company, Harpo, Inc. and her philanthropic initiatives, she has helped millions worldwide and raised awareness for a multitude of humanitarian causes, including education, Aids and poverty.

IATAS president and CEO Bruce Paisner said, "The Academy presents the Founders Award to an individual or organization which crosses cultural boundaries to touch our common humanity. This definition, though composed more than 25 years ago, seems to have been written with Oprah Winfrey in mind.

"Not only is she a beloved figure in television around the world, but she continually uses her great celebrity to help the less fortunate in our society and to shine a light on solvable human problems. We are proud to honour her."

Winfrey has entertained, enlightened and uplifted millions of viewers globally for two decades through The Oprah Winfrey Show the highest rated talk show in television history. In India the show airs on Star World.

She and her programme have received acknowledgements, including 39 Daytime Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award (1995), and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Lifetime Achievement Award (1998). Through Harpo Films, as part of a long-term deal with ABC Television Network, she produces "Oprah Winfrey Presents" telefilms, which have garnered top acting and production honors.

She also is a co-founder of Oxygen Media, which operates a 24-hour cable television network for women that launched in 1998 and is currently available in more than 54 million homes across America. Over the years,her endeavors have extended beyond the realm of television. In 2000, she launched O, The Oprah Magazine a monthly magazine that has become one of today's leading U.S. women's lifestyle publications and brought her "Live Your Best Life" message to a broader audience in 2002 with the first international edition of her magazine in South Africa.