Sony ends ‘The Dr. Oz Show’ in the wake of Mehmet Oz’s current Senate bid
Sony Pictures Television will replace the long-running The Dr. Oz Show with a spin-off hosted by his daughter, Daphne. The cancelation comes weeks after the talk show host announced his bid to replace retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. The Dr. Oz Show has run for thirteen years, following Oz’s rise to fame as a regular Oprah Winfrey Show guest.
Fox affiliates in Philadelphia and New York that regularly air content in Pennsylvania recently announced they would be pulling the show due to their inability to extend equal coverage to all other candidates. Oz is entering an already crowded field of candidates vying for the soon-to-be-vacant senatorial seat. Sony soon followed the stations’ example. The Federal Communications Commission’s Equal Time rules state that all candidates are entitled to equal air time from stations that carry content.
The Good Dish, a cooking/talk show hosted by Daphne Oz, Jamika Pessoa, and Gail Simmons, will take its place. Sony did not comment on Oz’s candidacy while announcing the replacement. According to Sony, several stations have already picked up The Good Dish, including Sinclair, Nexstar, Fox, and Hearst.
If Oz wins in the Republican primary, he could find himself running in one of the more important races of the mid-term elections, one that could potentially shift power in the currently Democrat-controlled senate. Pennsylvania is already a battleground state, and so far, no clear Republican contender has emerged.