More Drew for you: Daytime talker picked up for two more years
Comes after the fates of three other syndicated talk shows were decided
After the cancellation of Sherri and with Kelly Clarkson retiring from the daytime grind, CBS Media Ventures renewed The Drew Barrymore Show for two more seasons, taking the show through 2028. The talk show began in September 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic.
The renewal includes the CBS-owned stations that currently carry the show including CBS Chicago (WBBM-TV), which airs it weekdays at 2 p.m., and its major owned-and-operated duopolies in New York and Los Angeles.
Nexstar and Sinclair stations have also renewed the show, and starting next season, seven stations that currently carry the show will upgrade it to better time slots, in markets such as Minneapolis-St. Paul, Cleveland, and Kansas City.
“This show began as a space for intimate conversation, and we’re continuing to plant our flag as a truly multiplatform experience,” Barrymore said in a statement. “We live in a world where people discover content in so many different ways, and from the very start in 2020, our mission was to break the mold rather than conform to the traditional daytime landscape. I hold myself accountable to staying savvy about how and where this show is seen – feeding every corner that counts, while daring to just be myself and figure out life with others. My curiosity about people is what fuels me. I’m so excited to continue as I see this endeavor as an opportunity and a gift. Our show family is deeply grateful for the support of CBS and George Cheeks, who all helped us get here.”
Drew has drawn 1.6 million viewers this season, according to Nielsen, the largest audience to date.
“Drew is the original influencer – a true trendsetter and culture-driving force who has consistently stayed ahead of the conversation,” said exec producer Jason Kurtz in a statement. “The success of this show is rooted in the fact that Drew shows up as her unfiltered, authentic self every single day, continually challenging the conventions of daytime television and reimagining what the format can be in a multiplatform world.”
The renewal comes after Clarkson announced she was ending her show after this season, and Debmar-Mercury canceled Sherri (there is no word on when their final episodes would air). Drew joins Warner Bros. The Jennifer Hudson Show, which was recently picked up for a fifth season. The daytime and early fringe dayparts have been bleeding viewers over the last few years, thanks to back-to-work mandates from employers, which are reducing the available number of viewers who are home during the day, and those who are home are finding alternative ways to watch television, including streaming services and YouTube.
By the time Drew’s next deals are up, CBS Media Ventures and Warner Bros.’ syndication companies will become part of the same company as CMV parent Paramount Skydance recently won a bidding war to purchase the studio over Netflix. Warner has a thin first-run portfolio with Hudson and the also-renewed Extra for a 33rd season, but has several off-network sitcoms in current rotation, including The Big Bang Theory and its spin-off, Young Sheldon.
It’s too soon to tell what if Warner’s syndication unit would fold into CMV, but then-Viacom did operate two syndication companies for a few years under the Paramount Domestic Television and King World banners until 2006, when the newly split CBS Corporation united the brands under CBS Television Distribution, later renamed CBS Media Ventures.
Future shows from Warner Bros. for off-network syndication include ABC’s Abbott Elementary, perhaps for fall 2027 and CBS’ Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, likely for fall 2028.