Sirop Named EP of NBCU's 'Meredith Vieira'

Rich Sirop has been officially named executive producer for NBCUniversal’s upcoming The Meredith Vieira Show, which debuts in national syndication this fall.

Meredith Vieira already has been sold in more than 90% of the U.S. New stations recently added include WCVB Boston, KPRC Houston, WXYZ Detroit, KIRO Seattle, WTHR Indianapolis, WSMV Nashville, WKRC Cincinnati, WBRC Birmingham, WJXT Jacksonville, WNEP Scranton and more. These stations join all 10 NBC Owned Television Stations, which will air the show in the afternoons, along with NBCU’s Steve Harvey and Warner Bros.’ Ellen.

"Meredith connects with an audience like no other. What you see is what you get--a real person who is honest, smart, transparent and caring,” said Sirop in a statement. “This new show is the perfect platform to showcase all of these attributes which set her apart from anyone else on TV and make her one of the most relatable and authentic personalities.”

"Having worked together in daytime TV for over a decade, Meredith and Rich have tremendous chemistry and a wonderful, creative working relationship which will be essential for the success of the show," said Valerie Schaer, executive VP of creative affairs for NBCUniversal Domestic TV Distribution, also in a statement. "The Meredith Vieira Show will be fun with surprises around every corner and we are extremely excited to produce the show from the premiere media destination in the country, 30 Rockefeller Center."

Sirop previously served as showrunner of Disney/ABC’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire from 2010-13, which is where he started working with Vieira. Sirop also executive produced the Meredith Vieira pilot. Prior to Millionaire, Sirop was supervising producer on CBS’ Million Dollar Password, and GSN’s Chain Reaction and was a producer on VH1’s World Series of Pop Culture, among several other production credits.

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.