Access Hollywood will become a live nightly show when its 24th season debuts on Sept 9.
The syndicated newsmagazine, which has undergone a number of changes in the past several months, is also adding a companion series called All Access that will focus on stories outside the entertainment business. The daytime show Access Live is also changing its name to Access Daily.
“With the rapidly evolving entertainment news cycle, we strive to bring our viewers the most up-to-date headlines, and going live will achieve that,” Maureen FitzPatrick, senior executive producer of all three shows, said Thursday in a statement. “We will be able to advance the stories in real time as news breaks.”
Access Hollywood will air live on the East Coast at 7 p.m. ET, with new host Mario Lopez (formerly of rival show Extra) joining co-anchors Kit Hoover and Scott Evans and correspondent Sibley Scoles. The revamp will also include new graphics and an updated set adjacent to Universal Studios in Los Angeles.
The quartet will also host All Access, which will debut in just a handful of markets, following Access Hollywood on NBC-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami and Hartford, Connecticut. The show will “dig deeper into the national headlines to uncover the extraordinary real-life drama occurring in everyday places and exploring compelling true crime and uplifting human interest stories,” per NBC.
Lopez, Hoover and Evans will also host the daytime Access Daily, an hourlong show touching on the hot topics and entertainment news of the day.
The changes to the Access franchise come under FitzPatrick, who replaced longtime executive producer Rob Silverstein in March. Co-anchor Natalie Morales left the show in April, and the structural changes to the show have resulted in layoffs for some staff.
Stewart Bailey and Mike Marson executive produce Access Hollywood and All Access with FitzPatrick. Cara Petry and Sharon Spaeth have been promoted to supervising producers.
Access Daily will be executive produced by Julie Cooper, with Alyson DiFranco and Jennifer Dixon as supervising producers. Claudia Eaton is senior producer for all three shows.
