Nbc Saying Goodbye: Access Hollywood, Karamo and Steve Wilkos Canceled as NBCU Ends Syndicated Production
nbc saying goodbye to a generation of daytime titles as NBCUniversal announced it will wind down original production for first-run syndication, ending shows including Access Hollywood, Access Hollywood Live, Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show. The company says marketplace conditions and station programming preferences have made the traditional syndicated studio model unsustainable; Access Hollywood will continue producing original episodes through September while Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show have already completed production with new episodes airing through the summer. Updated 2026-03-19 12: 00 PM ET.
Nbc Saying Goodbye: What the shutdown covers
Nbc saying goodbye is being implemented as a formal wind-down of NBCUniversal’s first-run syndication unit. The decision brings the curtain down on the entertainment newsmagazines Access Hollywood and Access Hollywood Live and terminates the first-run production of talk shows Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show. Access Hollywood, which launched in 1996 and is in its 30th year, will keep producing original episodes through September; Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show have halted production, with taped episodes set to air through the summer.
The company will remain active in distributing its existing program library and off-network titles while winding down first-run production. The executives and teams behind these programs are credited for long runs: Access Hollywood is hosted by Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover, Scott Evans and Zuri Hall; Karamo is hosted by Karamo Brown and executive produced by Kerry Shannon and Gloria Harrison-Hall; Access Hollywood executive producers include Mike Marson and Julie Cooper. In national syndication, The Steve Wilkos Show has been a long-running franchise now moving out of first-run production.
This move marks a clear pivot in strategy: rather than invest in new first-run syndicated talk and entertainment strips, the company will focus on distribution of library content while exiting the high-cost model that once propelled daytime stars and franchises.
Immediate reactions from leadership and the industry
“NBCUniversal is making changes to our first-run syndication division to better align with the programming preferences of local stations, ” Frances Berwick, chairman of Bravo and head of Peacock unscripted, said, noting the company will continue to distribute library content while winding down first-run shows. Berwick added that the company is proud of the teams behind these long-running programs.
On the economics, Frank Cicha, head of programming for Fox TV Stations, framed the move as symptomatic of broader shifts in audience behavior: “I think it’s symptomatic that the economics have changed, ” he said, pointing to audience levels and cost justification as central pressures.
The decision follows the earlier announcement that other first-run syndicated talk shows would also wrap this year, accelerating a trend away from the traditional market-by-market syndication model toward content distribution and other programming strategies.
What’s next — distribution, real estate and the future of daytime
With the production wind-down, the company will continue to license and distribute its existing programming library to stations and platforms that seek it. The Stamford production hub that housed some of these talk shows is expected to be vacated later in the year as first-run tapes cease and the studio footprint contracts.
For viewers and affiliates, nbc saying goodbye means a transition period: new first-run episodes for Access Hollywood will appear through September, while Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show content will run through the summer schedule. The broader industry will be watching how local stations replace these slots — with more local and national news, community-focused programming or select national franchises — as the economics of daytime continue to evolve.
As networks and station groups reassess daytime strategies, nbc saying goodbye signals a structural retreat from a distribution model that once dominated daytime television, and it sets up a near-term reshuffle of syndicated programming and station lineups.
