Steve Harvey’s Daytime Talk Show To Officially End In June

Steve Harvey’s Daytime Talk Show To Officially End In June

Rumors have swirled since last year, but it has been officially confirmed that comedian/host Steve Harvey’s self-titled daytime talk show will end this June.

The rumblings that Steve Harvey’s talk show was on the verge of being cancelled initially began last September when NBC entered into a deal with former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson for her own talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, which will move into the current daytime slot occupied by Harvey’s show for the past seven seasons.

Kelly Clarkson, Steve Harvey

According to reports, the final episode of Steve was taped on May 9^th and will air sometime in June when the show officially wraps up its run. Original episodes will continue to air until that time and the show will also continue to air reruns through September when Clarkson’s show debuts.

Harvey entered the daytime talk show arena in 2012 and for five seasons The Steve Harvey Show, distributed by NBCUniversal, taped in Chicago with Harvey positioning himself in the mode of an Oprah Winfrey type of host. The show produced solid ratings, averaging about 1.8 million viewers a week, putting it at No. 5 among syndicated talk shows behind Dr. Phil, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Live with Kelly and Ryan and Maury.

Steve Harvey

In 2016, after his deal with production company Endemol ended, Harvey signed a deal with IMG Original Content and produced a new version of the show, retitled to simply Steve. The newer version of the show relocated to Los Angeles in fall 2017 and featured more celebrity guests and comedic segments than its predecessor. Through the new deal, IMG offered Harvey a much larger ownership stake in the show, a higher salary and more creative control over the production.

NBCUniversal executives were furious at losing their stake in Harvey’s show after the transition to IMG. So, it was no surprise when NBC moved to develop a high-profile new show to replace Steve—enter Kelly Clarkson.

Ironically hours before the news of cancellation officially broke, Harvey’s wife Majorie posted a photo of her planting a kiss on her husband on the set of his talk show, with a caption that said,

“before the last show.”

Previously, Harvey expressed his displeasure at being blindsided by NBCUniversal:

“I thought it would have been nice of them to come to me — as the only dude who’s survived [in daytime TV] for seven years — about it. This is NBC’s decision… I don’t own any TV networks but I’m not a grudge type of person. I happen to be a talent. I think people recognize that. Whatever happens with the show moving forward, I’ll be just fine.”

Harvey will still continue to host Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud, as well as specials like the Miss Universe pageant and FOX network’s annual New Year’s Eve special.

What are your thoughts on Steve Harvey’s talk show ending? Let us know in the comments!