Supermodel-turned-entrepreneur Tyra Banks has announced that the current and fifth season of “The Tyra Banks Show” will be the last. She cites wanting to expand her brand and production company as the reason for ending the show. Just a few months ago in November, media queen Oprah Winfrey announced the end of her groundbreaking talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” in 2011. Upon Winfrey’s announcement, Black Enterprise polled its audience to see who might be the next “Queen of Daytime,” and, of the names proposed, Banks was a strong candidate.
Though ending her talk show, Banks, 36, will continue to executive produce “America’s Next Top Model,” the CW/UPN Network hit that enters its 15th season in February. She will also remain co-producer, with Ashton Kutcher, of the show “True Beauty,” which airs on the ABC network and is now in its second season. Among her future plans are the formation of a movie studio, Bankable Productions, and other projects that will allow her to reach and empower even more women and young girls. She’s also planning to upgrade her Web presence.
Like a true entrepreneur and business woman, part of the reason Banks is excited about her new endeavors is because they will create job opportunities. ” … What I love about creating new projects is that it also creates new jobs for talented people, in front of and behind the camera,†she says on her Website, Tyra.com, in an open letter to her fans. At the same time, she laments ending “The Tyra Banks Show,” which has won two Daytime Emmy awards, because it will mean the dissolution of its staff.
Right now, with both Banks and Winfrey ending their shows in 2010 and 2011 respectively, Wendy Williams will be the only African American female presence in the daytime talk show space.