E! News Cancelled After Almost 30 Years Amid NBCUniversal Moves
After nearly thirty years on the air, E! News is set to end its run, according to Variety. The E! [...]
After nearly thirty years on the air, E! News is set to end its run, according to Variety. The E! Network has also cancelled Pop of the Morning and In the Room, a pair of newer series. In 2019, E! had expressed confidence in its news division, planning to open a second newsroom on the east coast -- a move that also pushed the nightly broadcast to the mornings. With the launch of Peacock at the top of NBCUniversal's priorities, the changes at E! seem to be tied to broader organizational changes at the network's parent company, who are seeking to streamline productions and cut costs.
The goal of last year's New York move was reportedly to give the organization a second newsroom and a longer news day, given the time zone differences, so it's unlikely that they made the move knowing E! News was on its way out. The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic also played into the decision to cut the shows, and Variety further reports that the New York staff will all be either laid off or relocated to other positions within the company, and all in-studio productions for E! will head back to Los Angeles.
Pop of the Morning was another morning news show -- this one with celebrity panelists discussing big entertainment news stories. In the Room was a celebrity interview show that took place inside of the subjects' homes.
The E! News Twitter account has not yet made any statement or acknowledged the breaking news, and their most recent tweets are working through the day's entertainment and celebrity news.
E!, short for Entertainment Television, was launched in 1987 and there are currently about 100 million Americans who have access to the network. E! was originally launched as Movietime, a service that aired movie trailers, entertainment news, event and awards coverage, and interviews. In 1990, Time Warner (which was then its majority shareholder) renamed the channel to E! Entertainment Television, hoping to draw in celebrity news and gossip audiences. After Warner was out, Comcast and Disney took over running the channel in 1997, and then in 2006, Comcast bought Disney out of their shares.
The network's most popular shows over the years have included Talk Soup (later The Soup), Chelsea Lately, Total Divas, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
ComicBook.com will have more news on what seems like pretty seismic changes at E! as the information becomes available.
