NBCUniversal Television Distribution has pulled the plug on “The Meredith Vieira Show,” canceling the syndicated talk show after it finishes out its second season in May.
The daytime series was centered around the veteran journalist and former “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” host and premiered in early September 2014. A month and a half later, it received a second-season renewal.
However, “Meredith Vieira” was averaging about 1.1 million viewers this season, down about 25% from the previous year, according to Nielsen. It was the second least-popular of the 15 current syndicated talk shows on the air (the first being Disney-ABC’s “FABLife,” which recently lost co-host Tyra Banks).
“I am so sorry to see our show come to an end after this season, but I am also incredibly proud of the work our staff has done and forever grateful to our supportive viewers. We promise to spend our final weeks producing the best broadcast we know how. And have a blast doing so,” Vieira said in a statement.
Vieira will finish out production on the current season of the talk show before heading to Rio to work on NBC’s coverage of the Summer Olympics.
The news came soon before it was announced that NBC-owned stations had renewed Warner Bros.’ “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” through 2020. The show already had a pact that would keep it on those stations through 2017.
On NBC-owned stations, Vieira’s departure will result in the addition of a 4 p.m. newscast on NBC stations in New York and Los Angeles and two other markets.
Rick Kissell and Cynthia Littleton contributed to this report.
