‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ gets tax credit for moving from L.A. to NYC

Kelly Clarkson will be moving production of her daytime television talk show from Los Angeles to New York for its fifth season, which is scheduled to start this fall.

“‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ will film in the iconic studio 6A, former home for late-night talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien,” a NBCUniversal spokesperson said in a statement sent to The Times. Studio 6A is in New York’s NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

The Emmy-winning talk show’s move is in large part due to the newly expanded New York State Film Tax Credit Program, which allows eligible productions to receive tax credit for up to 30% of production expenses that qualify under the law. By comparison, California law gives eligible productions up to 20% to 25% of their spending in tax credits and refunds.

The program in New York, intended to lure more filming to the Empire State, was expanded as a part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new $229-billion state budget, which was finalized last week. Under the new budget, the film tax credit program nearly doubled its funds and will receive $700 million each year until 2034. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signaled a desire to expand the state’s film tax incentive program, which spends $330 million each year.

Previously, shows were eligible under the program only if they committed to shoot for five years in New York. The program now is open to shows committed to two years of filming, such as Clarkson’s, which reportedly was renewed by NBCUniversal last fall through 2025, according to Variety.

“As part of the program’s expansion, New York now provides an incentive to eligible television series that relocate to New York and reduces the eligibility requirements for talk and variety shows from five years of filming to two years of filming,” the NBCUniversal statement said.

“The Kelly Clarkson Show” has been based at Stage 1 on the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, Calif., since it began in 2019. It was not immediately clear whether all of the show’s production would leave L.A.

Clarkson will move to New York along with showrunner Alex Duda and music director Jason Halbert, the statement continued. Amid a divorce from show producer Brandon Blackstock, Clarkson relocated from Nashville to Los Angeles in 2021, buying a $5.445-million mansion in Toluca Lake.

Fans of the show living on the East Coast celebrated the city swap.

“East coast girls won,” declared @222daysthoughts on Twitter.

“I’m happy in a way because we’re now on the same coast, but I’m sad because she will no longer do the Voice,” said @CraziChrista, referring to Clarkson’s departure from the NBC reality competition show last year.

“I’ll have to plan on getting tickets to see her show when she’s settled at 30 Rock,” wrote @AnnettefromNJ.

Virginia resident @0hbetave also planned to catch Clarkson, as she wrote that she is “adding that to my live show list.”

New York City officials joined the greetings, with the mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment tweeting on Tuesday, “Welcome to NYC, @KellyClarksonTV! @kellyclarkson,” before thanking Gov. Hochul for the expanded tax credit program.

Clarkson’s show is in the middle of airing its fourth season. Although the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike has halted production on some other talk shows, NBCUniversal reportedly shot Clarkson’s episodes in advance and is continuing to air those, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The first “American Idol” winner’s program is the third most-viewed syndicated talk show with 1.4 million viewers, behind “Dr. Phil” at No. 2 (2.2 million) and “Live With Kelly and Mark,” which sits at No. 1 (2.3 million). “The Kelly Clarkson Show” has nabbed 13 Daytime Emmys, including talk show in entertainment and talk show host in entertainment.

Times staff writers Anousha Sakoui and Laurel Rosenhall contributed to this report.