Maria Menounos Signs Deal with Telepictures, Will Co-Host 'Extra'

After six years at NBCUniversal‘s Access Hollywood, Maria Menounos has signed a multi-year deal with Time Warner’s Telepictures to serve as co-host of rival syndicated daily entertainment newsmagazine Extra alongside Mario Lopez. Additionally, she will have on-air duties for the company’s new Dr. Drew daytime show for the CW Lifechangers and will develop new projects. The news comes on the heels of reports that Menounos, whose contract with NBCU was coming up, was ready to bolt the company where she had also been contributing to Today, NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC because NBCU was looking to limit her duties in her new contract to only Access Hollywood. Before joining Access Hollywood in 2002, WME-repped Menounos was a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and hosted ET on MTV and ET on VH-1.