DJ PETRORO AND LINDA FULLER NAMED EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS OF ‘ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT’

LOS ANGELES – November 19, 2013 - Linda Bell Blue, who has spent 19 years as Executive Producer of ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, signed a multi-year deal to transition into a new role as President of the newly created Entertainment Tonight Studios, it was announced today by Armando Nuñez, President and Chief Executive Officer of the CBS Global Distribution Group.

With this new role, Bell Blue will be stepping down as Executive Producer of ET. DJ Petroro and Linda Fuller will be taking the reins of the show as Executive Producers.

“Linda Bell Blue has been an integral part of the CBS family for almost two decades running the No. 1 syndicated entertainment newsmagazine in the world,” Nuñez said. “We have created Entertainment Tonight Studios to serve the unending thirst for pop-culture-themed content and to continue to expand the stellar ET brand.”

“We’re also happy to have DJ and Linda leading ET,” Nuñez added. “They’ve both been instrumental to the show’s success over the years and will continue to uphold the quality programming ET delivers every night."

In her new role, Bell Blue will oversee the creation of ET-branded series and specials for cable, broadcast and digital platforms through Entertainment Tonight Studios.

“I am excited to take the esteemed and well-established ET name to the next level,” Bell Blue said. “It has long been a passion of mine to grow ET in a way that will continue to engage audiences and fortify the brand as the authority in entertainment news. I am eager to utilize the vast amount of resources we have at ET to create compelling programming viewers will love.”

Bell Blue has been executive producer of Entertainment Tonight for 19 years. During that time, she has executive produced numerous CBS primetime television specials, including “Red Carpet Confidential,” “An Entertainment Tonight Event - Celebrity Weddings Unveiled,” “The Stars’ First Time on Entertainment Tonight With Mary Hart”and the ABC reunion special, “Entertainment Tonight Presents: Laverne & Shirley Together Again.” She recently produced “Entertainment Tonight Presents: The Katy Perry Experience" for TVGN, and for the OWN Network, she tapped into the vast ET library to produce four ET-branded specials focusing on weight, plastic surgery, unsolved mysteries and scandals and drug use in Hollywood.

An Emmy Award-winning producer, Bell Blue joined ET after executive producing Hard Copy and, prior to that, KCBS-TV news in Los Angeles. Bell Blue also serves as executive producer of the nightly half-hour magazine omg! INSIDER (formerly The Insider) which premiered in 2004 with the highest-rated debut of any syndicated newsmagazine since 1996. In 2009, Bell Blue became the first executive producer of an entertainment newsmagazine to be inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. She is also the recipient of a STAR Award from the American Women in Radio & Television (AWRT).

Petroro and Fuller are long-time veterans of the CBS family.  In 2004, Petroro joined CBS Television Distribution and helped launch The Insider as senior producer and writer.  Petroro was promoted to the position of co-executive producer in 2006 and oversaw the production of the show until he made the transition to ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT in September 2012.  Prior to CBS, Petroro worked as a supervising producer for NBC’s Access Hollywood from 1996-2004.

Fuller joined ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT in 1989as an associate director before rapidly becoming a director.  Fuller was later promoted to ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WEEKEND producer before serving as ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT’s senior producer.  Prior to joining ET, Fuller worked at ABC News, 20/20 and Good Morning America/World News This Morning in New York. She later moved to Los Angeles and worked for Hollywood Close Up, Hard Copy and Secrets and Mysteries before joining ET.

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT is produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution and is taped in Studio City, Calif.  ET has been the No. 1 syndicated entertainment newsmagazine for 902 consecutive weeks. Nancy O’Dell and Rob Marciano are the co-anchors. Brooke Anderson and Rocsi Diaz are correspondents. Marciano and Diaz co-anchor the weekend show.

CBS Television Distribution is the preeminent company in television syndication. CTD produces or distributes 11 first-run series and holds the largest distributed television library at 70,000 hours strong. Among CTD’s critically-acclaimed programs are the #1 syndicated series Judge Judy; talk leader Dr. Phil; the #1 and #2 rated game shows  Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!; the Emmy Award-winning talk shows Rachael Ray and The Doctors; the #1 and #2 newsmagazines Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition, along with omg! INSIDER; the late-night talk show The Arsenio Hall Show; the freshman talk show The Test; and popular off-network product, including the CSI and Star Trek franchises, Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, NCIS, Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0, Hot in Cleveland and Undercover Boss.In addition, CTD handles the domestic television distribution of CBS News, CBS Films and Showtime.CTD is a unit of CBS Corp.