Brad Bessey will now oversee both of CBS Television Distribution’s entertainment news magazines Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, said Hilary Estey McLoughlin, CTD’s president of creative affairs.
“After more than 15 years in the ET/Insider family, Brad knows ET inside and out and is the perfect person to continue to grow the brand and keep the show on top,” said Estey McLoughlin in a statement. “He’s got a great vision and the leadership skills to oversee both ET and The Insider and to maximize the extraordinary talent, staffs and resources of both shows.”
As ET’s new leader, “I want to maximize ET’s established brand so that we get the biggest stars and biggest exclusives but also reach a social media savvy audience,” said Bessey in an interview. “I want to innovate the way we communicate the entertainment news of the day, while maintaining ET as it’s own distinct brand.”
Bessey spent 15 years producing ET and launched CBS’s The Talk before becoming executive producer of The Insider in late 2012. During those 15 years, Bessey helped develop and spin-off The Insider and remained a senior consultant on that show through 2010. He also developed digital brand extensions for ET, including ETonline, theInsider.com and ETonMSN.
Joining Bessey is Monique Chenault as co-executive producer of The Insider. Chenault comes to The Insider from NBCUniversal's Access Hollywood and BET.
Linda Fuller, who was named an executive producer of ET last year, will remain while the show’s current executive producer, DJ Petroro, is departing. Linda Bell Blue remains an executive producer on ET and The Insider, and is transitioning to a new role as president of ET Studios in June.
