NBCUniversal is eliminating “Access Hollywood” and several others of its daytime talk shows, effectively ending its first syndication business as daytime television atrophies.
The company confirmed that “Access Hollywood” and its counterpart “Access Live” will come to an end in September. The shows, produced in Los Angeles, are currently hosted by Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover, Scott Evans and Zuri Hall.
Talk shows “Karamo” and “The Steve Wilkos Show,” produced at NBC's Stamford, Connecticut, facility, are also closing. The shows have already completed production for the season and will run throughout the summer.
NBC previously announced that “The Kelly Clarkson Show” will also end later this year after seven seasons.
“The Steve Wilkos Show” lasted 19 seasons. The host is a former bouncer from “The Jerry Springer Show.”
Francis Berwick, president of Bravo and Peacock unscripted, said in a statement that the company will continue to distribute library episodes of its talk shows and network shows like “Law & Order.” But NBCU's days of launching daytime and pre-primetime series are over.
“NBCUniversal is making changes to our first-run syndication division to better align with local station programming preferences,” Berwick said. “The company will remain active in the distribution of our existing program library and other non-network titles, while finalizing production on our premiere programs.”
“Access Hollywood” was first launched by NBC in 1996 as a competitor to CBS Media Ventures’ “Entertainment Tonight.”
First-run syndication allows producers to sell television programs to stations on a market-by-market basis, rather than distributing them through a single network. This model was a big hit for talk show staples like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.
But streaming has moved viewers away from traditional television, as they can watch their favorite shows and movies anytime and on demand. The viewership levels needed to generate enough advertising revenue to support daytime premiere programming no longer exist.
Many television stations are filling their hours with more local news as daytime talk disappears.
