E! News Officially Ends — And With It, Cable TV’s Relevance in Celebrity Culture

E! News — once the shiny gateway to Hollywood’s elite — is officially shuttering its doors on September 25. And with its demise goes the last major relic of celebrity journalism’s glitzy cable TV era.

For generations raised on nightly doses of red carpet glam, Lindsay Lohan meltdowns, and Britney Spears paparazzi chases, this isn’t just the end of a show. It’s the funeral for an entire media culture.

“There was a time, like 2008 to 2012, that’s just untouchable in entertainment news,” said longtime E! anchor Jason Kennedy. “It was the Paris, Britney, Lindsay era — and I was lucky to be there.”

Kennedy, who co-hosted E! News from 2012 to 2019, recounted covering Michael Jackson’s death with 48 hours of nonstop live reporting, and flying out for the media circus following Anna Nicole Smith’s tragic overdose. “I was gone for a month. That story just wouldn’t end.”

Others like Melanie Bromley, the former chief news correspondent, remember luxurious assignments — like waiting weeks at London’s five-star Dorchester Hotel for the birth of Prince George. Or covering Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s wedding in Italy with performances by John Legend and Andrea Bocelli. “It was just bonkers,” she says. “That kind of budget doesn’t exist anymore.”

E! News was once the CNN of celebrity gossip, treating red carpets like political debates and turning Hollywood nightlife into must-see TV. From Joan Rivers’ biting fashion jabs to Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic’s velvet-draped awards show interviews, it gave fans an intimate pass to stardom — long before TikTok and Twitter offered a closer one.

But now? The internet won.

“We live in a time where people don’t come home to watch cable news,” Kennedy admits. “They scroll. They swipe. They already know.”

And so, like MTV News before it, E! News becomes a monument to a media model that couldn’t adapt fast enough.

Fans still love celebrity drama. They just want it served in 60 seconds — not 60 minutes.

MainEvent.News | Backstage Take:
Cable TV is simply too slow, too bloated with ads, and too far removed from today’s pulse. People still crave information — especially celebrity scoop — but they want it quick, visual, and scrollable. No one's sitting through 30-60 minute broadcasts for the same headlines they already saw on Instagram Stories or X. This marks more than the end of E! News... it's a sign that mainstream media has been disrupted for good.