After more than a decade on TV, The Talk is officially over. But why was The Talk canceled and what happened to end one of daytime’s longest-running talk shows?
The Talk premiered in 2010 as CBS’ competitor to ABC’s The View. The series, which features a panel of hosts as they discuss latest headlines, current events, and human-interest stories, went on to win a Daytime Emmy Award in 2016 in the Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment category. However, after 14 years on the air, CBS announced in April 2024 that The Talk‘s 15th season would be its last, with its final episode airing on December 20, 2024.
Why was The Talk canceled?
According to Deadline, The Talk — which will be replaced by CBS’ new soap opera Beyond the Gates in February 2025 — was CBS’ lowest-rated daytime program below game shows like Let’s Make a Deal and The Price Is Right and soap operas like The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.
And while The Talk was the third most-watched talk show on daytime behind The View and Live! With Kelly and Mark at the time of its cancellation, Deadline reported that Let’s Make a Deal and The Price Is Right made more sense to keep given that both game shows are often spun off into much-needed primetime specials for CBS — in addition to their successful ratings and affordable budgets. At the time of The Talk‘s cancellation, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful had both already been renewed through the fall of 2025, so they weren’t options for CBS to cancel.
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The writing was also on the wall for The Talk to go after CBS fired The Talk’s current executive, Laurie Seidman, as well as one of the show’s PR representatives as part of the network’s widespread layoffs. Longtime executive producer, Kristin Matthews, was also replaced by The Late Late Show with James Corden executive producer Rob Crabbe before its cancellation in an attempt to save the series. And though Crabbe made much-needed improvements to The Talk, such as extending the first act of the show and including more intimate interview segments, it wasn’t enough to keep the series on the air.
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A source also told Closer in March 2024 — a month before The Talk‘s cancellation — that the talk show was in trouble due to “tension” between the series’ hosts Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, and Sheryl Underwood and their uncertain futures with CBS. “Behind the scenes, tension on The Talk is at an all-time high,” the insider said.
The source also claimed that CBS started to de-prioritize The Talk after the exits of original hosts Sharon Osbourne and Julie Chen, who both exited as a result of scandals. “Things changed. The network no longer prioritized it. The advertising budget was reduced as ratings declined,” the insider said.
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