Linda Bell Blue

At the 12th anniversary Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards on Wednesday evening, Jay Leno, the last of the half dozen honorees to appear, spoke from the heart about what Tartikoff had meant to him. Tartikoff, who died in 1997 at age 48, had been head of NBC Entertainment when Leno was first starting his career, back when the comedian first appeared on The Tonight Show, which then starred Johnny Carson.

Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Jay Leno, Entertainment Tonight alum Linda Bell Blue and producer Jonathan Murray are among the industry notables set to receive the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards on Jan. 21 at the NATPE confab in Miami Beach.

After 19 years at the helm of the syndicated magazine, she is tapped to be president of Entertainment Tonight Studios to expand the brand. DJ Petroro and Linda Fuller will be taking the reins of the show as executive producers.