CBS Television Distribution (CTD) and Yahoo! announced on Tuesday that they've reached a deal combining the broadcasting power of
The Insider with the online reach of
Yahoo!. As part of the deal, entertainment newsmagazine The Insider will be renamed
omg! Insider in January.
Kevin Frazier and Brooke Anderson will continue to host the TV show, as well as draw on Yahoo! talent such as Kristen Aldridge (omg! NOW) and Michael Yo (The Yo Show on Yahoo!). In addition, Yahoo!'s popular
omg! entertainment news site, visited by nearly 30 million users each month, will be the exclusive home to video provided by the TV show.
omg! Insider will be a true web and on-air collaboration that aims to reinvent how consumers access entertainment news across screens. Online, Yahoo!'s omg! will provide continually updated coverage, including video clips, celebrity interviews, photo galleries, engaging editorial and a number of interactive social features. On air each evening, the TV show will offer a unique mix of informal in-studio conversations with celebrities and personality-driven discussions around the day's hottest topics and trends.
The new venture also will provide a substantial promotional platform for TV station partners – the web site will post breaking news throughout the day and continually promote the television broadcast later that night.
"We're excited to give our affiliate stations the opportunity to be associated with one of the largest entertainment news sites in the business," said Joe DiSalvo, President of Sales for CTD. "We're adding value to The Insider by tapping into an online audience in the millions and taking advantage of Yahoo!'s omg! brand and its loyal following. Our stations will also get an unparalleled promotional opportunity online. This is the perfect example of what the convergence of broadcast and digital is all about."
"We're thrilled to bring together two of today's most popular entertainment news brands to create an ‘always-on' content experience across TV, the Web and beyond," said Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!. "Yahoo! is focused on bringing the most personalized and relevant information to our users. Original video content and branded multi-screen programming help us to deliver on that promise. We're proud to collaborate with CBS Television Distribution to bring omg! Insider to millions of viewers in such a unique and exciting way."
A spinoff of Entertainment Tonight, The Insider is now in its 9th season.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Insider can currently be seen on the following channels around the region (check each station's schedule for airtimes): WTVW (Evansville), WTWO (Terre Haute), WBKI (Louisville), WPSD (Paducah), KPLR (St. Louis), WNKY-CBS (Bowling Green) and WZTV (Nashville).
