Description
E! News, previously known as E! News Daily and E! News Live, is the entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and primarily reports on celebrity news and gossip, along with previews of upcoming films and television shows, regular segments about all of those three subjects, along with overall film and television industry news.
The program first aired on September 12, 1991. It was originally hosted by Dagny Hultgreen. It features stories and gossip about celebrities as well as the film, music, and television industries. Since its launch, it has broadcast under a variety of formats, at one point even airing live during the mid-2000s (at this time, the show was named E! News Live). Starting in 2006, it was hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic. In April 2012, Seacrest was replaced by Jason Kennedy. Rancic temporarily left the show on maternity leave in August 2012 due to the birth of her first son (through a surrogate), though she reassured viewers that she would return under a new three-year agreement to E! News and Fashion Police after her leave; Catt Sadler took over her anchoring duties, and eventually became a main anchor as Rancic reduced her duties over time. From 2006 until late 2010, The Daily 10, hosted by Sal Masekela, Sadler, and at one point Debbie Matenopoulos, lead out of E! News.
On September 21, 2010, E! announced the cancellation of The Daily 10. At this time, it was announced that E! News would be expanded to a one-hour format. The expansion became effective beginning on October 25, 2010. The series also debuted a new news set and began broadcasting in high definition. Some talent previously featured on The Daily 10, including Catt Sadler, Clinton Sparks and Robbie Laughlin, were integrated into E! News, along with the addition of a segment called The Daily 10 Take and the inclusion of some former Daily 10 segments.
The E! News program was dark on major holidays, including Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, with special pre-taped programs, the show's weekend edition or other E! programs airing instead, depending on where the holiday fell.
In December 2017, Catt Sadler departed the network upon learning she was underpaid compared to her male counterpart, Jason Kennedy. In a statement to People, an E! spokesperson claimed the network 'compensates employees fairly and appropriately based on their roles, regardless of gender'.
In August 2019, it was announced that at the start of 2020, the E! News newscast would move to New York, along with the launch of a companion program, Pop of the Morning. It would become a morning program airing live at 7 a.m. Eastern, though at the peril of being too early for West Coast audiences at 4 a.m. Pacific. The new iteration of E! News would originate from Studio 6E at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The move was done to allow the network to become a stop on the common New York morning show circuit, and to allow for more vertical integration promotion for NBCUniversal programming and attractions in an hour where NBC's Today is usually exclusively devoted to hard news.
In October 2019, Rancic announced that she would be resigning her anchor position and staying in Los Angeles, and remain with the network for red carpet coverage, citing that she wanted to be more hands-on with her family and business interests in Chicago. Kennedy announced that he too would be leaving the show, but would remain with the network as the host of a new Los Angeles celebrity home-based interview series, In The Room. The last show from Los Angeles aired on November 15, 2019.
On December 5, 2019, it was announced that Lilliana Vazquez and Scott Tweedie would be the new co-anchors of the New York-based morning iteration of E! News which began airing on January 6, 2020. On March 13, 2020, it was announced that effective immediately, all of E!'s studio programming would go on an indefinite hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 5, 2020, E! canceled both New York-based shows, along with In The Room, one of the first of many program and employee cuts and staff realignments announced across NBCUniversal that week. E! has continued to maintain the E! News website, and its social media pages, including The Rundown on Snapchat Discover.
On October 20, 2022, E! announced that E! News would be revived as a late-night entertainment news program and would return to the E! network after a two-year hiatus; Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and Justin Sylvester (the latter of whom would return to the show for the revival) would serve as co-hosts. The revival premiered on November 14, 2022. On October 31, 2023, Bailon-Houghton announced she was resigning as co-anchor due to wanting to spend more time with her family and living on the East coast.
