Is Steve Harvey Leaving NBC Because of Kelly Clarkson’s New Show?

Back in September, NBC picked up Kelly Clarkson’s new talk show, “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” for the network’s fall premiere line up. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show was scheduled to air as a lead-in to Ellen Degeneres’, “Ellen,” replacing Steve Harvey’s namesake talk show in 10 of the 11 NBC markets. 

But now, with Clarkson’s show set to take over Harvey’s time slot, the fate and future of Harvey’s self-titled talk show remains unclear. In fact, in an interview with Variety’s Entertainment Summer at CES on Wednesday, Harvey said he didn’t even know he was being replaced until the news broke in the press. 

“I thought I was until they made an announcement a couple weeks ago that they wanted to give Kelly Clarkson the owned and operated NBC Networks, and that’s my slot,” Harvey said of the uncertainty surrounding his show at the network. “I don’t know if it sold – it’s not selling like they thought.” 

“I thought it would’ve been nice of them to come to me – as being the only dude that’s survived [in daytime TV] for them for seven years,” Harvey continued, “and say, ‘Steve, were’ thinking about doing this.’ But no, they just made an announcement. So when you do that, I gotta make announcements, too.” 

“You can’t make announcements and don’t expect to have to hear one yourself,” Harvey said. “And so, I’m working. It’ll be something real cute.”

As he continued, he further explained his frustration with being left in the dark about the Clarkson show, especially since he’s become and remained a solid piece of the network. 

“I’m an honorable guy and I’m just an old school guy and I just thought that you’re supposed to talk to people and go, ‘Look, you’ve been good business for us. This is what we’re thinking of doing. Are you okay with that?’ No, you don’t just put something in the paper and say, ‘I’m gonna make this move right here’ because it’s crazy. You look at the numbers on my show and it’s No. 4 in daytime television — it’s holding right there. I got a hit, so somebody’s gonna recognize that.”

“My show, Steve, is the only show over the past seven years that’s came into syndication and stuck,” he said. “Nothing else has stuck. There has been no syndicated TV shows launched in seven years that have stuck.”