CNBC has canceled Shepard Smith’s evening news program, The News with Shepard Smith.
Smith, an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, left Fox News in 2019 before landing a new gig at CNBC the following year.
The network, which is under new leadership, wants to go back to prioritizing business news.
The show will end at an unspecified date later this month. The company said they will be working to place the roughly 20 staff members of the show in other positions across NBC News Group.
According to a report from Variety, CNBC’s new leader, KC Sullivan, sent a memo to staffers on Thursday saying that the network needs to “prioritize and focus on our core strengths of business news and personal finance. This is key in our efforts to continue building on our position as the number one global business news brand and to connect with new audiences of all kinds interested in their financial future.”
“We need to further invest in business news content that provides our audiences actionable understanding of the complex developments in global markets and the implications on institutions, investors and individuals,” the memo continued. “During times of flux and uncertainty, our place in the lives of those we touch on-air, online and in person becomes even clearer, and more essential.”
The 7 p.m. news program struggled to gain viewers from the beginning.
In 2021, the Daily Beast reported that “according to Nielsen Media Research, the show averaged just 197,000 total viewers in June, losing a third of its viewers since the show’s peak in February, which saw an average of 296,000 nightly viewers. The show is currently the seventh-highest rated program on CNBC and 11th in the key demographic of viewers between the ages of 25 and 54 years old.”
“CNBC will replace Smith’s primetime show with markets coverage until a new live show focusing on business news launches in 2023,” CNBC said in their announcement.
Variety reports that “anchors for that program will be named at a later date, and it remains to be seen whether CNBC will select candidates from among its current roster or seek to woo someone from outside its ranks.”
