NBCUniversal is pulling the plug on its first-run syndication business, a move that will end the long-running entertainment news franchise Access Hollywood, along with several daytime talk shows. Access Hollywood and its companion Access Live are scheduled to stop producing new episodes in September, while Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show, taped at NBC's Stamford facility, have completed their current seasons and will air through the summer. The decision marks a significant retreat from a model that for decades supplied local stations with national daytime programming and removes a staple of Los Angeles production work.
Company confirmation and shows affected
According to the Los Angeles Times, NBCU confirmed that Access Hollywood and Access Live will shut down in September and that Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show are ending after finishing this season's production. The Access shows are produced in Los Angeles and currently hosted by Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover, Scott Evans, and Zuri Hall, while the Stamford shows have been based out of NBC's Connecticut facility. Francis Berwick, Bravo's chairman and head of Peacock unscripted, told the paper the company will continue distributing library episodes while it winds down first-run production.
Why first-run syndication is shrinking
Streaming and on-demand viewing have chipped away at the daytime audiences that once made first-run syndicated programming financially attractive, and many local stations are now filling daytime hours with additional local newscasts. As reported by The Daily Beast, executives framed NBCU's move as an economic realignment toward library and off-network distribution instead of costly daily productions. That shift has pushed studios to favor streaming and lower-risk content strategies over the traditional syndication grind.
Local production and jobs
The impact will be felt most directly on the stages where the shows are made. Access's flagship operations are produced in Los Angeles, while the Stamford facility has handled Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show, according to the Los Angeles Times. The paper notes that The Steve Wilkos Show ran for 19 seasons and that Access, launched in 1996, has been a staple of the syndication market for roughly three decades. Producers, crew members, and station managers will now have to navigate contract wind-downs and figure out how to plug new programming holes in local schedules.
What viewers and stations can expect
NBCU says it will keep licensing library episodes and off-network titles while it stops commissioning new daytime strips, a strategy the company describes as better aligned with stations' programming preferences. The Daily Beast also notes that the decision follows other recent cutbacks at entertainment news brands and the earlier announced end of The Kelly Clarkson Show, pointing to a broader industry pullback in broadcast daytime. In the near term, viewers can expect fewer new daily entertainment shows on broadcast TV and more reruns or expanded local news blocks, with a lot more anchor chatter and a lot less red carpet.
