Exclusive: Debmar-Mercury's 'Jeremy Kyle' to End After This Season

Debmar-Mercury's Jeremy Kyle, a conflict talk show
featuring popular British talk show host Kyle, will not be returning for a
third season, the company confirmed on Tuesday.

"We can confirm the U.S. version of The Jeremy Kyle
Show
won't be returning for a third season," said Debmar-Mercury copresidents
Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein in a joint statement. "This is in no way a
reflection of the quality of the show. Backed by a first-rate production team,
Jeremy was amazing and showed all of us why he is such a rock star in the U.K.
Simply put, Jeremy is one of the best hosts we have ever seen, and we expect to
see more of him on U.S. television in the years ahead. Unfortunately, talk
shows like this simply take time to build and, while we were seeing ratings
progress in many markets, it wasn't enough to justify going forward with
another season."

With the Fox and Sinclair-owned stations as its launch
groups, Jeremy Kyle managed to last longer in syndication than expected
considering its average 0.5 live plus same day household rating. But the show
had strong international clearances and thus, ancillary revenue, so it managed
to remain financially viable into a second year. 

Kyle also stars in a similar show on the U.K.'s ITV and that
show, which is produced separately from the U.S. version, will continue.

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.