by Thinus Ferreira
Giuliana Rancic is done with doing red carpet coverage for E! (DStv 124) after 18 years, announcing her exit that comes threemonths after Ryan Seacrest announced his departure after 14 years and two months after Jason Kennedy said that he was leaving E! in March after 16 years.
It means that the recent 93rd Academy Awards in Los Angeles marked Giuliana Rancic's final Live From the Red Carpet coverage duty at an American awards show since she started in 2003.
Linear American pay-TV channels like E! are struggling to remain relevant as the corporate groups they belong to are repurposing and moving content to their respective new video streaming services and are refocusing their content investment on creating shows for streaming as opposed to linear broadcasting.
Giuliana Rancic announced her exit as E!'s red carpet host in a statement that she also posted on her Instagram account, saying that "I have decided to step out of my red carpet heels into a new pair of shoes. To my E! family, thank you for allowing me to make my red carpet dreams come true for the past two decades. It has truly been a highlight of my career and life."
Giuliana Rancic will continue to work with NBCUniversal, the parent company of E!, with the "new pair of shoes" that is in reference to a new content development deal that she has signed.
E! in a statement says that "While we will all miss watching Giuliana bring her iconic interview style, infectious humor and keen sense of fashion to E!'s red carpet, we are excited to announce a development deal across NBCUniversal where she will bring her passion projects to life".
"We look forward to collaborating with Giuliana in the future and we will always be her biggest fans - on and off the carpet."
Giuliana Rancic was a correspondent for E! News that saw her elevated to managing editor and co-host since 2005 until 2015 when she left. Giuliana Rancic returned in September 2018 and finally left again when E! News moved from Los Angeles to New York in January 2020 that got cancelled in August last year.
Giuliana also did a 7 season reality show Giuliana and Bill for the Style Network and E! with her husband Bill Rancic and she also served as a panellist of Fashion Police on E! with host Joan Rivers from 2010 to 2017.
