Steve Harvey has joined Anthem Sports & Entertainment in buying a stake in a set of Mark Cuban-owned cable TV networks, and the purchase may be a welcome one for fans hoping he’ll come back on the small screen as a talk show host.
The comedian is an investor in a deal with the Toronto-based media company set to take over Cuban’s AXS TV and HDNet Movies, Deadline reported Monday.
Anthem is buying a majority stake in the two cable networks and the deal will also cover AXS’s dense catalog that includes wrestling, MMA and entertainment content. The purchase also means Anthem will have access to HDNet Movies’ theatrical films spanning the ’50s to the 2000s, which are accessible to around 12 million U.S. subscribers.
As for Harvey’s involvement in the venture, the “Family Feud” host’s Steve Harvey Global, which is an entertainment content distributor, will have a seat on Anthem’s board of directors. Harvey himself has a strategic agreement for content development and promotion of Anthem’s collection of channels. Those networks include Impact Wrestling, Fight Network, Canadian-based game show, reality and competition network GameTV and the Pursuit Channel, which focuses on hunting and fishing.
The purchase amount for the deal has not been disclosed.
“My team and I see great opportunity in Anthem,” Harvey said of the new investment. “They have incredible shows, experiential entertainment, and a huge reach.”
That “huge reach” may mean a lot to fans who have been missing Harvey’s daytime talk show “Steve” since NBC gave it the ax last fall. The show, which aired on NBC-owned stations from 2017 to 2019, has been replaced with Kelly Clarkson‘s new talker, “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” which premiered earlier this week.
With “Steve” no longer airing after its finale this summer, fans have taken to the show’s Instagram page to share how much they long to see it revived.
“Mis you Steve!! I watched the show at 2am in the morning. I can’t wait for you to come back BIGGER AND BETTER!!!😍”
“I miss you Steve. that Kelly lady is boring and corny🙄”
“I really miss your show, nothing on at 2pm. I refuse to watch the Clarkson show or what ever the name is.”
Harvey opened up about his talk show getting the boot at the Variety Entertainment Summit back in January, and he did not mince words about the fate of “Steve.”
“You know, I’m an honorable guy,” he said. “I’m just an old-school guy, and I just thought that you’re supposed to just talk to people and just go, ‘Look, you’ve been good business for us. This is what we’re thinking of doing, are you OK with that?’”
Still, he seemed to take everything in stride months later when the finale of his talker aired with his last guest Bishop T. D. Jakes.
“When I said I didn’t know what God had planned for me, Bishop Jakes shared his powerful message why I shouldn’t know,” Harvey captioned the footage shared to his Instagram page.
