NBC News cancels ‘Stay Tuned Now,’ pulling back on original primetime streaming programming

NBC News is ending its only original primetime program on NBC News Now, canceling Gadi Schwartz’s “Stay Tuned Now” and eliminating about a dozen positions as the network reassesses how it allocates resources to its streaming operation.

The Los Angeles-based newscast aired its final episode Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, ending a run that began in March 2023. NBC News confirmed the cancellation, first reported by Variety, but declined to make executives available for comment. 

Schwartz, who anchored the hourlong program at 8 p.m. ET, will remain with NBC News as a correspondent, although the network has not announced a specific new assignment for him.

Producers and other employees affected by the cancellation will be eligible to apply for nearly 50 open positions across the news division, including jobs with “Dateline” and the network’s news specials unit. The eliminated positions represent less than 1% of NBC News’ overall workforce. 

Rather than introduce a replacement program, NBC News Now will fill the hour with repeats of existing programming. The streaming service already rebroadcasts “Top Story with Tom Llamas,” its original 7 p.m. ET show, during primetime evening hours.

The decision represents a pullback in investment in original primetime streaming news, even as NBC News maintains that the cancellation does not signal a broader retreat from its free, ad-supported streaming strategy.

NBC News Now has been a significant growth area for the network. According to company figures, viewership tripled between 2020 and 2025, with the service recording its seventh consecutive year of audience growth in 2025.

The platform also reported one of its most-watched days following the Nov. 3, 2026, midterm elections, with viewership increasing 255% compared with the day after the 2022 midterms.

The cancellation comes just three months after NBC News expanded its streaming schedule with “Current with Christine Romans,” a two-hour weekday program focused on business, economic developments and breaking news. That addition extended the service’s weekday live programming schedule to 14 hours, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.

The contrast underscores the financial calculations facing television news organizations as they attempt to build streaming audiences while controlling production expenses.

Producing a live, original newscast requires dedicated editorial, technical and production personnel. Repeating existing programming allows a streaming service to maintain a continuous schedule without incurring the same costs.

For NBC News, the decision eliminates a distinct West Coast-produced newscast that was designed to offer a different perspective from programming originating in New York and Washington.

“Stay Tuned Now” launched as an extension of NBC News’ “Stay Tuned” digital brand, which initially found an audience through Snapchat in 2017. Schwartz co-hosted the original social media program with Savannah Sellers, helping establish a news format aimed at younger viewers who increasingly consumed journalism through mobile devices rather than traditional television.

The streaming version expanded that approach into a full-length newscast, combining breaking news with reporting on technology, science, culture and stories that might receive less attention on conventional national evening broadcasts.

The Stay Tuned brand has remained active. 

Its Los Angeles production base was also an important part of the concept, allowing the program to cover developing stories in the western United States during an hour when many East Coast-based news operations were winding down.

For Schwartz, the decision ends a prominent daily anchoring assignment but not his relationship with NBC News.

Schwartz has built a profile within the network through national reporting and an approach to storytelling that emphasizes digital audiences, emerging technology and unconventional news formats. His experience developing programming for social platforms could provide opportunities elsewhere in NBC News’ television and digital operations.

However, the network has not disclosed whether Schwartz will return to a regular anchoring role, concentrate on correspondent assignments or take on another position within its streaming division.

The changes also reflect a broader shift in how television news companies are approaching streaming investment. After years of expanding original digital programming to compete for audiences moving away from cable television, some organizations are increasingly examining whether the costs of maintaining separate streaming productions can be justified by advertising revenue and audience growth.