NBC's syndicated showbiz news programme Access Hollywood is being upgraded to more prominent timeslots by stations in many of America's top 50 television markets.

Deals for the show's eleventh season, which begin this September, have been struck with stations reaching close to 95% of US TV households. Those stations include some Fox owned-and-operated stations, which are opting to move the show into more prominent timeslots for their respective markets in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis and Detroit. The show typically airs in an early prime slot between national news programmes and the start of networked primetime programmes at 8pm.

"Access Hollywood is the perfect complement for network affiliated stations, whose daily programming strategy of news, information and entertainment go hand-in-hand with Access Hollywood's unparalleled news coverage of the film, TV and music industries," said Sean O'Boyle, senior vice president and general sales manager at NBC Universal's domestic TV distribution unit.