That means “The Graham Norton Show” will remain on BBC America — its linear stateside home for many years — through Seasons 34 (2026-2027) and 35 (2027-2028), while also continuing on three AMC Global Media streaming platforms: Acorn TV, AMC+ and All Reality. Last season averaged 153,000 linear viewers on BBC America, its best performance in three years, while Acorn TV (where most of the streaming audience watches) saw a year-over-year bump and AMC+ more than doubled its streaming audience over the previous season.
For Norton, who is signed in the U.K. with BBC One to continue his show through at least 2029, it’s an opportunity to continue expanding his audience in the U.S. as well.
Of course, Norton got plenty of global attention earlier this year when he appeared in Taylor Swift’s music video for “Opalite” — along with the guests she sat alongside on Norton’s couch in a Season 33 episode: Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Smith and Lewis Capaldi.
Norton’s guest list from Season 33 proved that his philosophy is working: Besides Swift, it included Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Matthew McConaughey, Julia Roberts, Colin Farrell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bruce Springsteen, Jeremy Allen White, Jennifer Lawrence, Tessa Thompson, Kim Kardashian, Glen Powell, Michelle Yeoh, Kate Hudson, Ben Stiller, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Thompson, Laura Dern, Cynthia Erivo, Halle Berry, Chris Hemsworth, Jacob Elordi, Jennifer Garner, Charli XCX and many more.
“I really like interviews on podcasts, but we are a different beast in that I can’t imagine a podcast that would get the people we get all at the same time, all together on a couch,” Norton said. “The other thing I think that totally changes the conversation and the tenor of the interview is that we’re doing it in front of a big audience. I think people behave differently in front of an audience. They tell stories differently in front of an audience.”
“I imagine it is mostly financial,” he said. “In some way, I think Trump is keeping [the remaining] shows alive because they can’t cancel them. Otherwise, it looks like they’re caving to Trump.”
But as a weekly program, “The Graham Norton Show” doesn’t carry the same kind of demands that the U.S. chat shows, most of which run four days a week, have. “I’m in the glorious position of putting a show out once a week,” Norton said. “Why would I quit? It’s the nicest job in show business!”
Norton said in interviewing Cruise, “I never get over the fact that it’s Tom Cruise. Mostly when you meet a big celebrity, after a while, it’s just a woman in a dress or a man in a suit, and you’re just talking to them. But he remains Tom Cruise throughout. I’ve met him socially at things, and to me, he’s always Tom Cruise. I don’t know what that’s about, and there aren’t many people who can do that. There is an electricity in the studio when he comes on.”
Among Norton’s guests in Week 2 will be Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose U.K. thriller series “Kill Jackie” will run on AMC+ in the U.S. “That’s an opportunity where we’re able to mine and promote and educate our viewers about a favorite personality and then something that they can watch on our platforms,” Thomasma said.
