TV Guide has ditched Joan Rivers and her daughter Melissa in favour of treating celebs more nicely on the red carpet.

Rivers, notorious for her acerbic comments to Hollywood's finest, was nabbed by the channel from E! in an exclusive three year-deal in January 2005. Together with Melissa, Rivers boosted TV Guide audiences by around 40% - but the ratings are still less than half those attained by E!, which now has American Idol host Ryan Seacrest on board.

Replacing the duo is Lisa Rinna, former host of Soap Net's Soap Talk.

"We had been evaluating our options over several months," said Ryan O'Hara, TV Guide Channel president. "The minute we met [Rinna], we thought it was a perfect match. You can sense her energy and passion."