A couple of weeks ago, we reported that daytime talk program The Meredith Vieira Show was not doing so well in the ratings against other daytime competitors. It didn’t take long for the NBC-owned syndicated show to make a decision regarding the future of The Meredith Vieira Show. This morning, we learned the talk show has been axed in what may be the least surprising decision ever.
Despite having a well-known name as its headliner, The Meredith Vieira show has struggled since the very beginning. Low ratings during the show’s first season led to some big revamping during Season 2. This fall, we got to see the show air in a new format. It also featured some new panelist names. The changes were enough to help the series tick up in the ratings. While the opener only did a paltry .8 rating, Deadline notes that the series average is a .9; unfortunately, that tick up wasn’t enough to change NBC Universal’s mind about the program.
On the bright side, if you do prefer The Meredith Vieira show compared to some of its other daytime counterparts like The View or The Ellen DeGeneres Show, etc, the series isn’t going anywhere just yet. Vieira will remain on her talk show through the end of the season, when she will transition to work on NBC’s coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Vieira has already made history with Olympics, having served as the first solo female primetime host.)
It’s getting tough out there in the daytime landscape. Although shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show and The Steve Harvey Show still do solid business with solo hosts, other shows, including the highly touted Katie featuring Katie Couric, never found their footing and have been subsequently cancelled. It doesn’t help that a lot of TV viewers have flocked to new streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. With all that in mind, when a daytime TV show launches, it takes a great format and an even greater personality (or set of personalities) to keep it afloat. Steve Harvey can tell you all about that.
The Meredith Vieira Show may be ending, but Vieira herself should be fine. The longtime host, journalist and presenter already has a few other steady gigs over at NBC, including work on the upcoming Olympics but also gigs with Dateline NBC and more. Her longtime partnership will continue with NBC in the future, even if this daytime partnership is ending. In hindsight, she maybe shouldn’t have quit that lucrative gig on Who Wants to be A Millionaire, however.
We’ll let you know if Meredith Vieira lands any other new gigs in the coming weeks. For now, catch her on weekdays in a syndicated timeslot on NBC channels. And find out when the rest of your favorites are returning with our midseason TV premiere schedule.
Photo courtesy of NBC.
