Drew Barrymore Shooting Talk-Show Pilot with CBS Television Distribution

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Drew Barrymore is taking another run at daytime, but this time with CBS Television Distribution at the helm.

The Santa Clarita Diet actress is shooting a talk-show pilot with CBS in New York this week. In 2016, Warner Bros. shopped a talk show starring the actress but it could not get the show on the air because it could not find time slots in major markets. Part of the problem was that NBCUniversal renewed Steve Harvey at 2 p.m., leading into Ellen DeGeneres, which had been Warner Bros.' intended time slot for the show.

CBS Television Distribution declined to comment on this story, but considering the timing the syndicator is likely targeting this for a fall 2020 debut. CTD works in conjunction with a station group that owns and runs stations in major markets, a luxury that Warner Bros. does not have. 

In the meantime, syndicators are getting ready to premiere several shows this fall, including NBCUniversal’s Kelly Clarkson, Disney’s Tamron Hall and Fox’s 25 Words or Less. Fox also has tested several shows this summer, including RuPaul, Punchline and Jerry O.

Variety first reported this story.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.