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UPDATE: I hear Diana Robina may return to the Lionsgate fold and is in conversations about a possible corporate position there. 
EXCLUSIVE: TV Guide Channel has canceled its entertainment news show Hollywood 411. The last edition of the weekly celebrity newsmagazine anchored by The Bachelor host Chris Harrison will air this Sunday. As a result of the cancellation, 25 production staff positions associated with the show are being eliminated. The network is in discussions with Harrison, who also has hosted TV Guide red-carpet coverage, about possible future hosting and producing opportunities. The cancellation comes a couple of weeks after programming head Diana Robina quietly exited TV Guide Network after a year-and-a-half stint as EVP Programming and Marketing, though I hear the two are not related. TV Guide Network did try different formats with Hollywood 411, which started off as a weekly mag
azine, then switched to a daily and then to a weekly again while also alternating between a one- and two-host model. But the show never quite found an audience in the crowded entertainment/celebrity news space (though its ratings were consistent with TV Guide’s averages). Despite that, TV Guide still plans to keep its toe in the arena — a new entertainment news show is now in active development. It is unclear if it would utilize the new set build for Hollywood 411 a few months ago.
Robina had come from the Lionsgate side of the partnership that owns TV Guide Network (and TVGuide.com) along with One Equity Partners and former Dick Clark Prods CEO Allen Shapiro. I hear TV Guide Network chairman Shapiro — who had focused on shoring up the channel’s distribution for the past year or so, recently signing a new long-term carriage deal with Time Warner Cable — will now oversee programming hands-on, working with the team Robina put in place. Her position is not expected to be replaced, at least for now. Following TV Guide’s 2009 purchase by Lionsgate, the network put an emphasis on off-network acquisitions with deals for Ugly Betty, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Lionsgate’s Weeds. But while synicated fare still remains part of the mix, the focus seems to have gradually shifted towards original fare, a trend that will pr
obably get even stronger after the ratings records for the series premiere of the SallyAnn Salsano-produced Nail Files last month. The network is staying in the celebreality genre with the recently announced Hollywood Mom’s Club, which is slated to premiere in November.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Don’t suppose any of those 25 layoffs included any of their many vice presidents?
CARL Icahn & Jon: What a cue to snap up Allen Shapiro. He did a Fantastic Job for Dick Clark. Watch he’ll make Nail File run Hollywood 411 like it was their Catering Company. He’ll Brilliantly
Consolidate and bring New Zing and Social Technology to TV GUIDE NETWORK.This is a Man on a Mission.
Mama Mia, what a Super Exec.
Congrat’s Allen Shapiro,
Doc Joseph P. Sinda
They did have an idiot/ABC Stooge hosting the show so that’s one of many reasons why that show failed.
What a shame Diane Robina quit she is the one responsible for that channel even having a pulse. I am sure she will show up somewhere soon.
Hollywood 411 needed a 911 and that was long before Robina. Only Robina could get viewers with that damn scroll.
Well so long TV Guide, anyone that can get 495 productions to TV Guide is a true workhorse.
Letting her quit is almost as dumb as letting Zucker stay at NBC for so long.
Diane is quite possibly the worst exec in this town. She has no understanding of the development process, treats producers like crap, has no respect for the creative process, and most of all, has the worst phone manners. She never returns anyone’s calls. Except her bosses. Agents hate her. Producers too. She got what she deserves.
as a former employee, my comments are a mixed bag. first, i loved my time there. i made some of my best friends at tv guide and learned a lot about the biz here. but secondly, i realize now how bad it eff-ed me up! they don’t make television here, they make crap. let’s be frank. the stuff on this network is bad. Not only does it rehash everything we see on VH1 and E!, but it does it poorly. The sound is BAD. The shadows (aka: so-called lighting) is BAD. The hosts are dead behind the eyes. the red carpets, i cant even get STARTED on those!!!!!!!!!!! $$$ is spent. trust me, i’ve seen the checks signed. so HOW can it be so bad? are the people untalented? no, they are very talented. are the ideas bad? most, yes…but no, there are some good ideas there. what’s the problem? a TOTAL LACK OF INSPIRATION. unlike other networks, no one has ever gone home at the end of the day from this place and said WOW! I AM PROUD OF THE WORK I DID HERE TODAY. instead, we were bullied into grinding away long hours to produce packages often identical to ones on access/extra/nbc. I tried for some time standing up for new and creative ideas. my boss told me that i was embarrassing myself. i followed her advice…and ended up following my dignity right outside the door. unlike these 25, i left under good circumstances. but i feel no pity for what’s happening. everyone that works here knows that you only get what u give. and this network gives CRAP, so why should the employees expect any better?
Yes a few execs got laid off. One woman in particular. I am in the PR department somewhere in PMK (or something like that
) and all I’ll say is that it’s about time. She had two talent booking employees that carried her. I have been laid off and had my pay reduced 3 times over the past decade. Seeing someone like her continually get praised made my blood boil. Anyone in the know over there knows who I am referring to. TV Guide made one good choice at least. It will just be sad to see some of the hard working producers let go. They were very passionate and under utilized. Face it. They were on a bad show with not ratings and no push. (Did you ever see an advertisement for their stuff on another network or mag outside of TV Guide mag? I think not.)
WHo knew the TV GUide Channel even existed? Ill have to double check to see if its on my cable; I haven’t turned it on since their Idol Tonight Show and Joan Rivers went off the air
at tv guide, failure is not an option. it’s an obvious.
Good for Allen.
Never understood Robina. She’s left quite a trail with Spike, Fearnet and now TV Guide. Off-network acquisitions Ugly Betty, Curb, and Weeds? All have been ratings disasters. Add to that a competely disorganized strategy…
I hope they bring on new shows that have the same flair and entertainment values of the shows that have been cancelled.
It’s about time that ship sinks, and all thanks to one exec named Paul Adler, who does nothing but kiss butt to get any of the positions he’s held. Where’s your awkward nervous laugh now Adler….hehehe.