Entertainment Tonight Information

Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, in Canada (on Global) and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer. The program makes the claim that it is "the most watched entertainment news magazine in the world" (though by what measures this claim is verified is unknown). It is the longest-running entertainment news program, with its first broadcast on September 14, 1981, and was the first syndicated program distributed via satellite. Mary Hart served as the show's primary anchor from 1982 until her departure on May 20, 2011. Mark Steines and Nancy O'Dell took on the roles of primary hosts of the show once Hart left. O'Dell took on the role as sole host of the show after Steines left the show on July 27, 2012. Rob Marciano became Nancy O'Dell's permanent co-host on January 7, 2013.

It was announced on January 30, 2006, that Entertainment Tonight was renewed through the 2011"2012 season, which was the show's 30th season. On September 8, 2008, Entertainment Tonight began to air in high definition with the move of the program from their longtime home at Stage 28 on the Paramount Pictures studio lot to Stage 4 at CBS Studio Center, one of the final steps involving the incorporation of Paramount's former syndication arm, Paramount Domestic Television, into CBS' distribution arms and the adoption of the CBS Television Distribution name, which all took place following the breakup of the original Viacom in 2005.

In its early years, ET was co-produced with TeleRep (who left after 1991), Cox Broadcasting (who left after 1997), and Taft/Great American Broadcasting (who left after 1991). Paramount Domestic Television would later absorb syndication companies that the latter two had once owned: Rysher Entertainment (formerly owned by Cox) and Worldvision Enterprises (formerly owned by Taft/Great American).

The show celebrated its 10,000th episode on August 22, 2013.

Overview

Format

In its current form, Entertainment Tonight airs as half of a one-hour entertainment news block that also includes a spin-off, The Insider. Three versions of the show are compiled and made available to broadcasters: a "standalone" version, a version for stations that air The Insider just beforehand, and one for those that air The Insider immediately after. Recently, only the "standalone" version is aired, even on stations that air ET and The Insider back-to-back (or vice-versa).

ET Weekend (formerly known as Entertainment This Week), a one-hour weekend edition, is also produced. Originally a recap of the week's news, most or all episodes later transitioned to have some sort of special theme; though the weekend edition has begun to use either format, most commonly editions showing replays of stories that were shown during the previous week's editions, depending on the episode. ET Radio Minute, a daily radio feature, is syndicated by Westwood One.

Composed of breaking news stories, exclusive set visits, first looks at upcoming film and television projects, and one-on-one interviews with Hollywood talents and celebrities, ET's regular segments include "The Latest News," a quick round up of the day's biggest stories; "Story from Studio 4," a lengthier analysis of Hollywood's hottest topics; "Real or Rumor," where rumors circulating Hollywood are confirmed or denied.

Background

Veteran television producer Alfred Masini, coming off his success with the 1980 debut of Solid Gold, was the program's creator. Richard Frank, president of Paramount Television, his vice president of programming, John E. Goldhammer, and his vice president of development, Mel Harris, hired managers and producers from local news stations such as original managing editor Jim Bellows, formerly of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Early on, Frank, Goldhammer, and Harris held many discussions with producers, writers, and directors about what kind of program ET should be. Although the pilot was executive produced by Jack Haley Jr., Andy Friendly was hired as the show's first producer. (Haley still remained on as executive consultant.) He left the show after 6 weeks and Goldhammer took it over. Goldhammer established the program's unique look, sound, pace and reporting style. Friendly put together a diverse staff ranging from former rock roadies to veteran television reporters of the Vietnam War era"?some of whom continued to work on the show for more than twenty years. In 1982, Goldhammer hired Mary Hart and Leeza Gibbons to host the daily and weekend shows.

Controversy

In the early years, Entertainment Tonight, following a local newscast format, consisted primarily of coverage of the latest movies, music, and television. During Bellows' years the series also developed a series of investigative reports about Hollywood's drug use and hiring practices; but during the 1996"97 season ET began to include more sensational fare, featuring paid exclusive interviews with controversial and infamous newsmakers of the day, including disgraced Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, who became notorious for her role in the conspiracy to physically attack rival Nancy Kerrigan at a 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships practice session; Amy Fisher, who appeared with Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco, reunited after Fisher's infamous assault on Mrs. Buttafuoco; convicted child molester Mary Kay Letourneau, who married Vili Fualaau; and attorney Howard K. Stern, from the Anna Nicole Smith paternity controversy. ET has also aired exclusive stories related to Anna Nicole Smith, including coverage of her funeral, and her surviving daughter.

In 1996, actor George Clooney decided to boycott Entertainment Tonight to protest the presence of intrusive paparazzi after Hard Copy did an exposé about his love life, violating an agreement he had with Paramount, which produced both shows. In a letter he sent to Paramount, Clooney stated that he would encourage his friends to do the same. Although Clooney has since ended his boycott, Entertainment Tonight has continued to broadcast video and photography taken by celebrity-stalking paparazzi, with some of the staff of Hard Copy absorbed into the staff of Entertainment Tonight after that program's 1999 cancellation.

Hosts

Entertainment Tonight is currently hosted by Nancy O'Dell and Rob Marciano with several correspondents, including Brooke Anderson and Rocsi Diaz. Leonard Maltin is the film correspondent and reviewer for the show, while Andre Leon Talley covers the Hollywood fashion industry and red carpet events.

Special correspondents

Entertainment Tonight has many special correspondents who report on particular features for the show, usually having had a role in the program they work on. Paula Abdul was a special correspondent for ET's coverage of American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars had correspondents for the second season (Tatum O'Neal), third season (Lisa Rinna), fifth season (Donny Osmond), ninth season (Marie Osmond) and eleventh season (Niecy Nash). Diane Diamond is a special correspondent for high-profile trials; she featured coverage of the investigation following Michael Jackson's death in June 2009. Adam Lambert was the fashion correspondent at the 2010 Grammys. Melissa Rycroft was a special correspondent covering parties, award shows, and premieres.

Current on-air staff

Anchors

• Nancy O'Dell - anchor (2011"present)
• Rob Marciano - co-anchor/weekend co-anchor/(2013"present)

Correspondents

• Brooke Anderson - correspondent & fill-in anchor (2012"present)
• Rocsi Diaz - weekend anchor/correspondent (2013"present)
• Leonard Maltin - film correspondent (1982"present)
• Andre Leon Talley - fashion correspondent (2012"present)

Former on-air staff

• Thea Andrews " fill-in weekend host/correspondent (2006"2009, now at omg! Insider)
• Army Archerd " correspondent (1981)
• Rona Barrett " correspondent (1983"1986)
• Nina Blackwood " correspondent (1988"?)
• Chris Booker " correspondent (2002"2003)
• Eric Burns " correspondent (?"?)
• Lisa Canning " correspondent (1995"1998)
• Jann Carl " fill-in weekend host/correspondent (1995"2008)
• Marcia Clark " correspondent (?"?)
• Steven Cojocaru " fashion correspondent (2003"2011)
• Bobby Colomby " correspondent (?"?)
• Leanza Cornett " correspondent (1994"1995)
• Kevin Frazier " fill-in weekend host/correspondent (2004"2011, now at omg! Insider)
• Leeza Gibbons " fill-in host/correspondent (1984"1995, later at Extra, now co-host of America Now)
• Bob Goen " co-host/correspondent (1993"2004)
• Samantha Harris " fill-in weekend host/correspondent (2010"2012)
• Mary Hart " host/correspondent (1982"2011)
• Huell Howser " correspondent (1982"1983)
• Darren Kavinoky " correspondent (?"?, now at The Insider)
• Robin Leach " correspondent (1981"1984)
• Chrishaunda Lee " correspondent (?"?)
• Maria Menounos " correspondent (2001"2005, later at Access Hollywood, now at Extra)
• Vanessa Minnillo " correspondent (2005"2007)
• Julie Moran " correspondent (1995"2001)
• Carlos Ponce " correspondent (2004"2005)
• Tony Potts " correspondent (1998, later at Access Hollywood)
• Michael Scott - fill-in host/correspondent (1993"1994)
• Selina Scott " correspondent (?"?)
• Mark Steines " co-host/correspondent (1995"2012, now co-host of Home and Family on The Hallmark Channel)
• John Tesh " co-host/correspondent (1986"1996)
• Marjorie Wallace " host/correspondent (1981)
• Robb Weller " co-host/correspondent (1984"1986)
• Dixie Whatley " correspondent (1981"1982)
• Roshumba Williams " correspondent (2002)
• Chris Wragge " correspondent (1996"1997, later at WCBS-TV and former co-anchor of The Early Show on CBS, now back at WCBS-TV)

Distribution Details

• Domestic US 1080i station feed via Galaxy 28 at 4.06 GHz horizontal 29.86 MBd 8PSK 3/4
• Domestic US 480i center-cut station feed via Galaxy 28 at 3.98 GHz horizontal 32.36 MBd QPSK 3/4
• South Pacific 576i center-cut international feed via Intelsat 5 at 4.16 GHz horizontal 26.48 MBd QPSK 3/4

Various versions and promos are fed between 1530 and 2000 East Coast Time. With the South Pacific relayed feed having irregular start and end times, also the international feed is PowerVu encrypted for one hour of that time.

The weekend edition has a longer running time of 40 minutes (excluding national/local advertising spots) and is a mix of extended stories from the last week and occasionally themed archive specials (such as in May 1994 when Star Trek: The Next Generation ended). It is produced toward the end of the week and fed to stations on Saturday US Pacific Time.

The show's closed captioning is produced in-house by VITAC staff and provided to stations in DVB-VBI EIA-608 format for insertion into their play-out system. Most international stations that use Teletext either lack the capability for conversion or get a 625 line version that has had the DVB-VBI stripped out by a third party network operator. Australian broadcasters re-caption the show in real time. The original captions are funded (as with most US shows) by a national advertising spot that appears toward the end of the show that has a captioned voice-over bumper before announcing "closed captions provided by".

As of January, 2013, Red Bee Media who provide the Australian captions are now converting the DVB-VBI EIA-608 format to Teletext as they do with other non-live US shows.

International broadcasts

• Entertainment Tonight UK, hosted by Irish celebrity Amanda Byram, launched in January 2005 on satellite/cable pay TV channel Sky One, which additionally airs each US episode a day or two after its American showing.

• Entertainment Tonight Canada was launched on the Global Television Network on September 12, 2005, with host Cheryl Hickey and lead correspondent Rick Campanelli. It airs back-to-back with the American version in most Canadian markets.

• In Australia from July 30, 2012, it was announced Network Ten had acquired the free to air rights as part of their existing contract with CBS Television Distribution who part owns Eleven to begin airing the previous days episode on Ten from August 6, 2012 at 11am Weekdays, along with The Insider at 11:30 am. A re-run of that episode airs after midnight on Eleven. Also shown on the Foxtel channel Arena at 7PM, Arena no longer broadcast The Insider.

• A localized Australian version was produced by Australia's Nine Network during the 1990s, presented by Richard Wilkins and Marie Patane, with journalist Terry Willesee as guest host. The show was a mix of locally produced stories and those imported from the American program. Due to cost considerations in 2000 it was replaced by the American version. To further more cost savings on June 30, 2012 it was decided not to renew the contract for the show with CBS Television Distribution which the GO! and the Nine Network had been airing for 30 years from 1982. The show was replaced with another entertainment show called Extra on 2 July 2012, which was acquired as part of their existing contract with Warner Bros. Television Distribution.

• Entertainment Tonight was aired in France under the name Exclusif, hosted by Thierry Clopeau (1998), Emmanuelle Gaume (1998"2000), Flavie Flament (2000"2001), Valérie Bénaïm (2001"2002) and Frédéric Joly (1998"2002). There were several correspondents like Ness, Stéphanie Pillonca, Génie Godula and Jonathan Lambert.

• In Brazil, there is a version of Entertainment Tonight called TV Fama (TV Fame) hosted by Nelson Rubens and Flávia Noronha.

• In India, the show began airing with a special broadcast from November 29, 2010 on Big CBS Prime.

• In the Philippines, the show currently airs on 2nd Avenue.

• In New Zealand, TV3 originally only broadcast the weekday center-cut edition until November 6, 2012 with a separately sourced SD 16:9 widescreen version for the weekend edition. SD 16:9 widescreen versions are now used for both the weekend and weekday editions. The weekday show currently airs the same day as the US on TV3 at 5PM (re-run the next morning) with the weekend edition also at 5PM Sundays on FOUR (re-run after 11PM).

• In the Middle East, the American show airs on the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

• In Indonesia, aired on JakTV in 2005"2006.

Competition

Despite stiff competition from Access Hollywood, Extra, TMZ, its own "sister" program omg! Insider, Inside Edition, Showbiz Tonight, and E! News, Entertainment Tonight remains one of the top 10 highest-rated syndicated programs. Back in the fall of 2007, its daytime TV rankings were fluctuating between fourth and fifth place due to competition from fellow CBS-syndicated program Judge Judy.

Footnotes