EXCLUSIVE: There was a lot of focus on the fact that Jay Leno’s Garage was canceled by CNBC on Thursday, but it turns out the rubber has met the road on the executive front as well.
The cancellation, which also included Money Court, hosted by Kevin O’Leary and Bethenny Frankel, is part of a swath of changes brought in by CNBC President KC Sullivan.
The news network is moving out of original, primetime entertainment programming and Deadline understands that the two execs that oversaw it — Denise Contis and Timothy Kuryak – will exit as part of the restructure, along with other execs across functions including marketing.
It will focus on repeats of shows like Shark Tank, Undercover Boss and American Greed.
While originals have never been the main focus of the network, Jay Leno’s Garage ran for seven seasons and nearly 90 episodes, Money Court has aired since 2021 and last year it aired Business Hunters, exec produced by Mark Burnett, and No Retreat: Business Bootcamp, which featured Spartan’s Joe De Sena.
Contis was EVP and Head of Content for CNBC Primetime and helped grow audiences for these shows at the network. She joined in September 2019, having previously been at Discovery Channel, where she oversaw series such as the Gold Rush and Deadliest Catch franchises.
Deadline understands that NBCUniversal is in talks with Contis about other internal opportunities.
Kuryak was executive producer at CNBC Prime, where he EPed Money Court as well as No Retreat: Business Bootcamp.
It’s a blow for the unscripted production community – those shows were produced by companies including MGM, Banijay’s 51 Minds and Anvil 1893.
