ACCESS HOLLYWOOD
Debut: Sept. 9, 1996
Ratings*: Averages 2.9 million viewers; weekend program has approximately 1.6 million viewers
Hosts: Billy Bush, Nancy O’Dell
Big Stories: Tom Cruise discusses Scientology with Billy Bush; Jennifer Aniston’s first interview after her breakup with Brad Pitt; only televised conversation between Ben Affleck and then-fiancee Jennifer Lopez
Parent: NBC-Universal
Public Mishaps: Pat O’Brien, who hosted "Access Hollywood" from 1997 to 2004, headed to rehab for alcoholism in March 2005. Around that time, a number of sexually graphic voicemail messages with O’Brien’s voice on them made the media rounds. O’Brien had moved to host "The Insider," an ET-spinoff produced by CBS-Paramount, but was fired in 2008 after writing an e-mail to his co-workers in which he insulted his replacement anchor, Lara Spencer.
Website: www.accesshollywood.com
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
Debuted: Sept. 14, 1981
Ratings*: Averages 6.3 million viewers; weekend program has approximately 3 million viewers
Hosts: Mary Hart, Mark Steines
Big Stories: Rare 1996 interview with Anna Nicole Smith about her deceased husband and plastic surgery; Kelsey Grammer’s release from the Betty Ford center; John Travolta’s relationship with Scientology; first interview with Donald Trump after divorce from Marla Maples
Parent: CBS-Paramount
Public Mishaps: Reported Angelina Jolie had given birth to her twins early and stuck to its story despite denials from Pitt’s manager and other news organizations who claimed it was untrue. The story was later removed from the "ET" Web site but a representative for the show said the story hadn’t been retracted.
Website: www.etonline.com
*Ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research
