NBC Cancels Long-Running Daytime Show After Nearly 20 Years

NBC just unleashed a bloodbath of axed shows, as the network undergoes a massive overhaul — and its longest-running productions are not being spared.

The Steve Wilkos Show, a daytime tabloid talk show, has been cancelled after 19 years on the air at NBC. The decision came shortly after it was announced that the network's parent company, NBCUniversal, has decided to end all first-run syndication shows produced by NBC.

A first-run syndication involves producers, such as NBCUniversal, selling TV shows to stations on a market-by-market basis rather than distributing them across a single network platform, as described by Variety. This method of business once made huge stars out of hosts such as Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil McGraw, and Ellen DeGeneres, and made mega-bucks for their networks.

However, in the era of streaming, this is somewhat of an archaic model. Major productions like this were failing to create the returns it had received during its golden age. The Kelly Clarkson Show, one of the last of its kind, recently announced that it would come to an end this year — a decision said to be made by Clarkson, but perhaps with some influence over how realistic the longevity of that kind of show is in this day and age.

The Steve Wilkos Show, originally a spin-off of the Steve to the Rescue segments on The Jerry Springer Show, saw the late host's former bodyguard take on his own presenting duties. While the show proved successful enough with viewers to last for decades, the series was given the same "trash TV" label as its predecessor, with its content often focusing on infidelity, paternity tests, abuse, crime, and, of course, those infamous polygraph tests and their questionable accuracy.

“NBCUniversal is making changes to our first-run syndication division to better align with the programming preferences of local stations,” Frances Berwick, chairman of Bravo and head of Peacock unscripted, said in a statement, per Variety. “The company will remain active in the distribution of our existing program library and other off-network titles, while winding down production of our first-run shows. These shows have provided audiences with great talk and entertainment content for many years and we’re very proud of the teams behind them.”