Weight Watchers is getting another boost from Oprah Winfrey.
The weight loss company's shares soared Wednesday as a TV commercial starring Winfrey began to air.
The commercial shows past videos of Winfrey working out and referencing her struggle with weight, a frequent topic of her former talk show. The ad ends with Winfrey asking viewers if they're ready to join her. "Let's do this together," she says.
She tweeted the ad to her more than 30 million followers on Tuesday.
Weight Watchers stock has more than tripled since October, when Winfrey bought a 10 percent stake in the New York company. Besides the new ads, Weight Watchers has also made changes to its plans to better fit in with Winfrey's message of living a healthy and happier life, and not just focusing on weight loss.
Shares of Weight Watchers International Inc. jumped $3.68, or 19 percent, to close Wednesday at $23.05.
Weight Watchers brought in Winfrey at a precarious time for the company. It has been hurt by the popularity of fitness trackers and free food-tracking apps. Despite recent gains in the stock, it is still down about 8 percent from a year ago.
Winfrey is on the new plan and she said in an October appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that she lost 15 pounds in a few months.
While she slims down, her wallet is getting fatter. Back in October, Winfrey paid about $43.2 million for her 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers. That stake is now worth more than $148 million.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More