E! is canceling two of its entertainment-news shows, the daytime show Daily Pop will end its five-year run in September, and companion Nightly Pop will go dark in October. The NBCUniversal-owned cable outlet also plans to launch a new evening news show in October that will “return to the roots of the E! News brand as the gold standard of entertainment news coverage,” according to a memo from Tracie Wilson, executive vp syndication studios at NBCUniversal, to E! staff on Friday (read it in full below).
“I know change can be challenging, but I am truly excited about the future of these brands that we are going to build together,” Wilson wrote.
The cancellation of the two shows is part of a larger restructuring at E!, which includes the creation of Terrace Studios to share some functions, including stage and production management and hair and makeup, between E! News and NBCU’s syndicated Access shows. E! veteran Ed Zarcoff has been named senior vp news operations and will lead the production side of the news unit, while Tammy Filler remains executive vp and editor-in-chief of the digital team.
Justin Sylvester hosts Daily Pop, which premiered in May 2017. Nightly Pop followed in October 2018; Hunter March, Nina Parker and Morgan Stewart host.
Wilson’s memo is below.
Hi all,
Over the past six months I’ve been digging deep into the E! News business. As we shared in February, our goal is to create a center of excellence for entertainment news at NBCU, and I want to start by acknowledging and thanking all of you who are already working day in and day out to help make that happen.
When initially we spoke, we promised to reconnect as soon as we had a better idea of the new organizational structure, and we wanted to share some of that with you today.
We are creating a centralized “Terrace Studios” umbrella, sharing critical support functions across the Access and E! News brands such as stage, production management, hair and makeup, etc. This will enable us to work smarter and stronger, maximizing existing expertise while freeing up resources to compete on a larger scale. It’s a natural fit for these two amazing brands to join forces. Access has reestablished itself as THE home of entertainment news on broadcast, and E! News remains one of the most iconic multi-platform brands in the industry.
One of our top priorities is to solidify E!’s role in entertainment news well into the future, and on that note, we are restructuring the leadership team to better help us achieve that goal.
Our digital footprint continues to be one of the brand’s strongest assets, and Tammy Filler – who has done a phenomenal job growing engagement over the past few years – will remain in her role as EVP and Editor-in-Chief overseeing the digital E! News organization and developing a robust slate of digital originals. Tammy will have three direct reports whose teams will help grow and shape the brand moving forward; Jen Lavin will lead creative, Jamie Blynn will oversee E! online editorial, and we are actively searching for someone to oversee digital strategy. I truly believe each of these executives is incredible at what they do, and that this new structure will set this team up for success moving forward.
In addition, we are extending our ‘center of excellence’ concept to the production side of the business. Ed Zarcoff will lead this group as SVP, News Operations reporting directly into me; he will partner closely with Vinnie Fusco and Kristin Killackey who will continue to run all first-run production operations. Ed will remain responsible for digital production management as well as take on the following teams: news operations, photo and booking. Ed’s institutional knowledge coupled with his past newsroom experience make him a natural fit for this expanded role, and I’m confident this change will streamline and strengthen our production process.
Finally, as we continue to focus on the future of E! and its news offerings, we are going to be launching a new show on the linear network that will air nightly beginning in late October. We will be announcing more details in the coming weeks, but our vision for the linear show is to return to the roots of the E! News brand as the gold standard of entertainment news coverage. As we continue to move the brand in this direction, Daily Pop will end its run in mid-September and Nightly Pop will conclude in early October, paving the way for us to focus audiences on our new show. I want to say a huge thank you to the Daily Pop and Nightly Pop teams for their creativity and commitment, including working countless hours to keep these shows up and running through the pandemic.
I know change can be challenging, but I am truly excited about the future of these brands that we are going to build together. I appreciate your dedication, flexibility and support as we continue work through this process. Looking forward to “seeing” you soon.
Thank you,
Tracie
