New social TV companion app Umami is expanding on its launch earlier this month via a deal with CBS syndicated shows Entertainment Tonight and The Insider that will mark the start of a push into online video as well for the social TV service.
Mary Hart, the Entertainment Tonight anchor, leaves the show today after 29 years, during which she helped usher in a new celebrity television age. Hart, with her deep contact list and blindingly bright personality, has been the genre’s No. 1 ambassador. When she leaves — of her own accord: she was not pushed — she will be another sign that celebrity-oriented television is undergoing a generational changing of the guard. The gentle world of celebrity journalism is fading, replaced by the Hollywood Babylon of Perez Hilton and TMZ.
CBS Television Distribution’s Entertainment Tonight and The Insider are swapping talent. Kevin Frazier will leave ET to co-host The Insider with Lara Spencer, while Insider correspondent Chris Jacobs will head over to ET.
Exclusives
Former Access Hollywood co-anchor Nancy O’Dell will replace Mary Hart on Entertainment Tonight. O’Dell will join the syndicated entertainment newsmagazine in January as a special correspondent. After Hart leaves the show next year, O’Dell will step into the role of co-host alongside Mark Steines.
