The nightly celebrity news programme E! News has been cancelled after 34 years on air. Versant, the company overseeing E! and several former NBCUniversal cable networks, is ending the show, with the final episode scheduled for 25 September.
Hosted by Keltie Knight and Justin Sylvester, the series launched in 1991. It previously took a hiatus during the pandemic but returned in 2022 after a two-year break. Employees were informed of the cancellation on 24 July, with a repeat episode airing that evening instead of an original.
Around 20 people work on the programme, with some offered other roles within the company and others expected to leave. New episodes will resume next week, while other network shows such as Access Hollywood and Access Daily will continue as usual.
E! News will continue as a digital brand, focusing on growth across social platforms, which have seen impressive increases on Instagram and TikTok. The channel also airs programmes like E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals and Botched Presents: Plastic Surgery Rewind.
In a wider shake-up, NBCUniversal has split into two entities: Peacock and Bravo remain with NBCU, while USA Network, Syfy, E!, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen and Golf Channel form the new company Versant. Digital businesses Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes and Golf Now also move to Versant.
Long-term viewers reacted online, with one calling it 'the news channel I was raised on' and another saying 'this was my ultimate dream platform to host on. The end of an era.'
