ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT Celebrates 8,000 Episodes Tonight

CBS Television Distribution's ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, the foremost authority on breaking entertainment news since its debut on September 14, 1981 and an iconic part of American culture for 31 years, hits a new milestone today when it celebrates 8,000 shows, a very rare achievement for any television show. In addition, the Entertainment Tonight weekend show will cross the 1,600 mark on Saturday, May 12.

Entertainment Tonight is the most-watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world and widely regarded as a staple of American culture. ET pioneered the practice of day-and-date programming via a satellite feed and remains a broadcast phenomenon. In addition, Canada has its own version of the show.

"As one of our crown jewels, we couldn't be more thrilled to call attention to this milestone for ET," said John Nogawski, President of CBS Television Distribution. "It is remarkable that after 8,000 episodes, ET is number one in its genre and is recognized in Hollywood and the broadcasting industry as the absolute authority on entertainment news - that's due to the dedication and hard work of everyone at ET."

"I'm so proud of this unprecedented accomplishment by an entertainment newsmagazine," said Linda Bell Blue, Executive Producer of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider . "ET continues to be the gold standard. It's been my honor to produce ET for nearly two decades but we wouldn't get to 8,000 shows without the tireless efforts of the best team in television. I tip my hat to everyone involved in bringing our loyal viewers the most credible, timely, fascinating stories of the day."

ET has been the number one syndicated newsmagazine for the past 86 consecutive sweeps (824 consecutive weeks); number one among homes, number one among women 18-49 and number one among women 25-54.

Currently in its 31st season, Entertainment Tonight is produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution and is taped in Studio City, CA. Linda Bell Blue is the executive producer. Nancy O'Dell hosts. Chris Jacobs and Christina McLarty are correspondents.

CBS Television Distribution is the preeminent company in television syndication. CTD produces or distributes 13 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 newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight and its sister show The Insider; the #2 newsmagazine Inside Edition; court shows Judge Joe Brown and Swift Justice With Jackie Glass; reality dating show Excused; the upcoming talk show Jeff Probst; 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.