NBC has pulled the plug on its longtime entertainment news program Access Hollywood after 30 years.
The show’s cancellation comes as a direct result of the network cutting its original production of first-run syndication programming. Other shows coming to an end include daytime talk shows Access Hollywood Live, Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show.
“NBCUniversal is making changes to our first-run syndication division to better align with the programming preferences of local stations,” said Frances Berwick, Chairman of Bravo & Peacock unscripted for NBCUniversal, in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“The company will remain active in the distribution of our existing program library and other off-network titles, while winding down production of our first-run shows. These shows have provided audiences with great talk and entertainment content for many years and we’re very proud of the teams behind them.”
Access Hollywood, launched in 1996 to rival CBS’s Entertainment Tonight, will produce original episodes through September. The show is currently hosted by Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover, Zuri Hall and Scott Evans.
Throughout its three decades on television, the newsmagazine has featured a rotating cast of hosts and correspondents. It debuted with original hosts, Giselle Fernandez and Larry Mendte, with the latter departing after just one season in 1997. Fernandez was joined by Pat O’Brien and remained with the show until 1999. Recent Entertainment Tonight host Nancy O’Dell was also one of Access Hollywood’s original co-anchors.
In 2001, the series welcomed Billy Bush as a correspondent. He then served as co-anchor from 2004 until his exit in 2016. Afterward, he joined NBC’s Today show but was fired months later when a 2005 tape of him from his days at Access Hollywood was leaked.
The infamous tape, leaked just one month before the 2016 presidential election, captured audio of Donald Trump talking to Bush about his ability to grope women when he pleases. The leaked recording prompted an immediate frenzy, as listeners denounced Trump for bragging about his attempts to have sexual intercourse with a married woman who rejected his advances. Reflecting on his career fallout after the video’s release, Bush admitted in 2019 that he had considered suicide.
The cancellations come amid a rapidly changing landscape for television, with daytime and late-night talk shows becoming a shrinking genre, as they are increasingly being replaced by video podcasts.
Last month, both Kelly Clarkson and Sherri Shepherd announced the end of their talk shows. Clarkson revealed she would be stepping away from hosting her eponymous Kelly Clarkson Show after the current season to focus on her children, while Shepherd’s eponymous Sherri show was axed due to shifts in daytime programming.
