Ellen DeGeneres to End Talk Show

Ellen DeGeneres is leaving her daytime talk show after nearly two decades. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Ellen said the show’s upcoming nineteenth season will be the last.

Ellen says she informed her staff on May 11 and will sit down with daytime predecessor Oprah Winfrey to discuss the news on her May 13 show.

For what it's worth, Ellen claims that widespread accusations of a toxic workplace and losing more than a million viewers this year aren't why she is stepping away.

“I was going to stop after season 16,” she said. “So, we on three more years, and I knew that would be my last. That’s been the plan all along. And everybody kept saying, even when I signed, 'You know, that’s going to be 19. Don’t you want to just go to 20? It’s a good number.’ So is 19.

“When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged – and as great as this show is, and as fun as it is, it’s just not a challenge anymore,” Ell goes on.

Maybe, but it's easier to walk away when a million -- no, really, a million -- people have stopped watching your show.

The Daily Mail, which reported the news before Ellen's interview with the Hollywood Reporter, quoted a source saying, "The ratings have tanked and have been truly appalling this year, and Ellen knows her time is up. The show has bled viewers since the toxic environment around Ellen and her show was made public.”

That I believe.

Daytime TV is not the juggernaut it once was, yet there's no denying that Ellen's departure creates a lucrative, career-changing opportunity in the industry.