After 19 seasons on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Jason Raff is stepping down as showrunner due to budget cuts. Moving forward, the unscripted competition series will be directed by Sam Donnelly, who previously shared showrunning duties with Raff.
“America’s Got Talent” completed its 19th season on NBC in September, after which Raff was notified he was being suspended. He has been with the series since its debut in 2006, while Donnelly joined in 2014 with season 9.
In addition to the flagship series, Raff had developed and served as showrunner on each of the spinoffs, including “America’s Got Talent: The Champions,” which ran for two seasons from 2019 to 2020; “AGT: Extreme,” which ran for one season in 2022; “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars,” which premiered in 2023 and aired for one season; and “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League,” which premiered earlier this year and aired one season.
Simon Cowell created ‘America’s Got Talent’ and will continue to serve on the panel of celebrity judges alongside Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara, with Terry Crews serving as host. Previous judges have included Brandy, Mel B, David Hasselhoff, Julianne Hough, Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, Howard Stern and Gabrielle Union, while previous hosts have included Regis Philbin, Jerry Springer, Nick Cannon and Tyra Banks.
Cowell and Donnelly produce “America’s Got Talent,” and Fremantle and Syco Entertainment co-produce the series. Season 19 of “America’s Got Talent” premiered in May, with singer Richard Goodall crowned the winner in September.
Deadline was the first to report the news of Raff’s departure.