[3][4] Stern's departure removed the contractual condition he had imposed for his involvement, leading to moving live round productions to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Along with those changes, the "Golden Buzzer" format was adjusted, and a planned break was made in the season's broadcast schedule between August 2–23 to avoid clashing with the network's live coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

[6] The eleventh season was won by singer and ukuleleist Grace VanderWaal, with mentalist duo The Clairvoyants finishing second, and magician Jon Dorenbos placing third.

The eleventh season became prominent in the program's history for broadcasting a stunt on live television which went wrong nearly resulted in the death of its performer.

[14] Due to Stern's departure, the live rounds were no longer restricted to being held within New York at Radio City Music Hall.

Although he suffered no injuries, production staff were left to question why the performance had been allowed to take place, and altered all footage of the scene for online viewing as a direct result.