‘Extra,’ ‘TMZ’ Land Multiyear Renewals With Key Change to Format

The new version of long-running entertainment news series Extra will be sticking around for a while.

The Billy Bush-hosted show has scored a three-season renewal from Fox Television Stations as part of a big deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The station group has also given three-year renewals to TMZ and its companion show TMZ Live and a two-year pickup to the talk show The Real.

All four series will also be reformatted to eliminate end-of-show ad breaks and flow seamlessly into one another, (potentially) enticing viewers to keep watching. That change is set to begin in early December.

“Seamless transitions between programs are long overdue in local television,” Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy said Monday in a statement. “We are proud to be partnering with Warner Bros. on such an industry game-changer. These programs are an important part of our lineup, and we are happy that they will be back for multiple years with this new formatting.”

Extra, which moved to Fox as its flagship station group this season after a long run on NBC stations, has been renewed through the 2022-23 season. Bush took over as host of the show — returning to TV three years after the Donald Trump/Access Hollywood tape controversy — and Extra has improved its time period in the key syndication demographic of women ages 25-54 vs. a year ago.

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TMZ and TMZ Live have also been renewed through 2022-23. Both shows are up year-to-year in women 25-54. The Real, which has likewise ticked up in women 25-54, has been renewed through the 2021-22 season. 

Another Warner Bros.-distributed show, The People’s Court, has also been cleared for three more years on Fox’s owned-and-operated New York affiliate, WNYW.

“Fox has offered unparalleled promotional and programming support for our series and we are very pleased these long-running franchises will continue to thrive on their stations, and even more so as a result of this new seamless format,” said Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution president Jeffrey Schlesinger.

All four shows are produced by Warner Bros.’ Telepictures. Lisa Gregorisch Dempsey is senior executive producer and Theresa Coffino and Jeremy Spiegel are executive producers of Extra. TMZ is executive produced by Harvey Levin, Charles Latibeaudiere, Evan Rosenblum and Stuart Alpert, while TMZ Live is executive produced by Levin, Latibeaudiere, Ryan Regan and Alpert. Rachel Miskowiec exec produces The Real.

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