Thea Andrews Signs on to Co-Anchor OMG!INSIDER

Related: CBS

Thea Andrews has officially signed on as co-anchor of CBS Television Distribution's OMG!Insider (formerly known as THE INSIDER), executive producer Brad Bessey announced today. Andrews joins anchor KEVIN FRAZIER beginning in Jan. 2013. Michael Yo and Mary Kitchen have also joined the news team.

Andrews has previously appeared on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT and ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WEEKEND. She has also acted as a correspondant for sports games on ESPN and ABC.

It was recently announced that THE INSIDER would be undergoing a bit of rebranding, included in that, is the name-change to OMG!Insider.

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."

THE INSIDER, a spinoff of ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT and now in its 9th season, debuted on September 13, 2004, and averages 2.2 million viewers per night. Launching under Linda Bell Blue's leadership, THE INSIDER premiered as the highest-rated debut of any newsmagazine in syndication since 1996. Blue, who also executive produces the #1 entertainment newsmagazine ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, remains executive producer of the retitled show and has enlisted Brad Bessey as executive producer and day-to-day showrunner of omg! Insider. Bessey has served in various capacities at ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, including as co-executive producer, and was the executive producer who launched CBS's daytime hit THE TALK. The renamed TV show will continue to be produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution.