*Steve Harvey‘s TV empire is shrinking once again. His latest show, “Steve,” has now been canceled after two seasons.
We’ve also learned that the show did finish taping all of its episodes; new installments will continue airing into June.
Here’s more via TheWrap:
The news comes after NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution, which distributes “Steve,” announced that it had sold a Kelly Clarkson daytime talk show last fall. “The Kelly Clarkson Show” was set for a fall 2019 launch on NBC’s owned-and-operated stations in the slot currently occupied by “Steve,” at the time calling into question the future of Harvey’s show.
Prior to the 2017 launch of “Steve,” which was produced by Endeavor’s IMG Original Content, a different iteration of Harvey’s talk show, “Steve Harvey,” ran for five years and was co-produced by Endemol Shine North America and NBCUniversal.
The shift to IMG came after Harvey’s five-year deal with Endemol expired, and was made to give Harvey, who is repped by WME, more control over the creative direction of the show.
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The reality is that the cancellation is not all that unexpected because the ratings for “Steve” just weren’t there. The Hollywood Reporter writes that after initially changing the format “Steve” lost viewers. The numbers from recent ratings cycles portray the show as losing more than half a million viewers from the original’s (“Steve Harvey”) last season. It hasn’t been able to reach the 2 million viewers mark. The best it could do was 1.6 million in recent weeks. Apparently that’s not enough.
In the meantime, IMG and Harvey are said to be exploring other options for his relationship and advice content in digital, cable and SVOD.
Speaking of The Hollywood Reporter, in 2018, Harvey spoke with the publication and admitted the transition had not gone as well as he would have preferred.
“I’m a die-hard believer in reinvention,” he said. “But sometimes you just have to leave the wheel alone, and let it roll down the hill.”
Like we said up top, Harvey’s empire is shrinking. It’s not completely gone. He’s still has a bunch of other income streams including his hosting gigs for the syndicated “Family Feud,” the ABC celebrity version as well as his many emceeing jobs. And there’s always his old stand by: stand up.
