Tamron Hall is readying her return to daytime TV.
The former Today co-host is partnering with Weinstein Television for a new daytime talk show, it was announced Wednesday.
Currently in development, the untitled project will feature a mix of current events, human-interest stories and in-depth celebrity and newsmaker interviews. The daily series will be shot in front of a live studio audience. Hall will co-create and executive produce, with former NBC Domestic Television Distribution president Barry Wallach on board to consult. No network is yet attached.
Additionally, The Weinstein Co. and Hall will work together on developing other nonscripted programming.
“I’ve been working toward developing a talk show for a long time, but needed to make sure I did it the right way and with the right person to take the lead. Tamron is far and away that person,” Harvey Weinstein, TWC co-chairman, said in a statement. “She’s an exceptionally talented journalist whose interviews masterfully walk the line between entertainment and hard-hitting. We couldn’t be more thrilled to begin this new venture with her.”
The project comes nearly six months after Hall’s departure from Today, where she had co-anchored the morning show’s 9 a.m. hour for three years, in addition to hosting her own daily MSNBC show, MSNBC Live With Tamron Hall. Hall exited the network and its cable news counterpart at the same time that talks began about just where new NBC News addition Megyn Kelly would land as part of her massive overall deal at the network. As rumored when Hall left NBC, Kelly is set to take over the 9 a.m. hour in September with a new program that comes in addition to her recently launched Sunday newsmagazine.
At the time, Hall’s abrupt departure was met with backlash, most notably from the National Association of Black Journalists, which accused NBC of “whitewashing.”
Speaking with THR in April, NBC News president Noah Oppenheim said that the network had made Hall a “significant” offer to stay. “I very much hoped that Tamron would remain with NBC News,” he said. “We made her an offer that I think reflected our strong desire that she be part of our family moving forward, that would have given her a very prominent and substantive role here at the network. We were obviously disappointed that she chose to pursue her future elsewhere, and we wish her only the best.”
In May, Hall signed with WME, who represented her in the Weinstein Television deal along with attorney Bianca Levin of Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown.
While Hall has proven herself a draw, daytime television has failed to launch celebrity talk shows in recent years. Two other prominent Today talents, Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira, both saw their daytime series axed after two seasons.
The project would mark Weinstein Television’s first foray into daytime. The company’s other unscripted shows include the long-running Project Runway and its various offshoots, as well as the acclaimed Spike documentary Time: The Kalief Browder Story, exec produced by Jay Z.
On the scripted side, Weinstein TV has also ramped up its development, with forthcoming projects from Matthew Weiner, David O. Russell and Oliver Stone, among others, with the former two set to launch on Amazon.
