Starting out with a bi-coastal format, the program was originally hosted by
Pat O'Brien – who was based in
Hollywood at
Paramount Studios Stage 28, where
Entertainment Tonights set was also housed at the time – and
Lara Spencer – who was based at
MTV's
One Astor Plaza studio in
New York City, overlooking
Times Square. In its first season,
The Insider originally maintained a news-heavy format, making way for a direction where subjects such as a pair of
anorexic nervosa twin sisters from Australia (who died in an April 2012 house fire) were regularly featured in sweeps periods, along with other fringe stories such as
true crime stories and the
Nadya Suleman story, which had little or nothing to do with the entertainment industry. O'Brien – who was originally co-host of syndication competitor
Access Hollywood from 1997 to 2004 – remained co-host of
The Insider until March 5, 2008, when he was replaced with
Donny Osmond. O'Brien returned to the program one month later after Osmond declined to take on a role as a permanent host. During the first four years she was on the program, Spencer hosted the program solo at times due to O'Brien's varied personal problems, which forced him to take time off in extended periods to address them. The original theme song – which was changed after the second season, coincided with a change in distributors to
CBS Paramount Domestic Television after
CBS assumed ownership of
Viacom's television production and syndication operations in their December 2005 split – was performed by
Richie Sambora. For its fourth season, production of the program was moved to New York City full-time in September 2007. O'Brien relocated from
Los Angeles to join Spencer in a new studio based within the
Minskoff Theatre in
Manhattan (where the musical adaptation of
The Lion King is based), which featured unobstructed views of Times Square, nearby the MTV studio facilities and also within One Astor Plaza. On September 8, 2008,
The Insider began broadcasting in
high-definition television; concurrently,
The Insider relocated primary production and studio operations back to Los Angeles, joining sister program
ET at Stage 4 at the
CBS Studio Center, one of the final steps involving the incorporation of Paramount's former syndication arm,
Paramount Domestic Television, into CBS' distribution arms following the earlier CBS-Viacom split and the adoption of the then-new CBS Television Distribution name. The set's focal point was a large life-size 3D construction of the program's logo, which was formerly used as the main portion of the set where segments took place until the September 2009 retooling of the program to incorporate a panel format. The New York-based aspect of the program was also abandoned, with Spencer relocating to Los Angeles and becoming a solo host, joined by correspondents
Victoria Recano,
Steven Cojocaru and Cheryl Woodcock. In the move, O'Brien became a Los Angeles-based correspondent for the program; however ten days later on September 18, he was dismissed permanently from
The Insider for comments he made in a staff email after a trip to
Iowa, where he directed comments specifically at a mid-show daily segment presented by Spencer that debuted at the start of the season. O'Brien proceeded to involve a rundown of the prices and labels of her clothing and accessories (which were referenced in the segment), saying that it made the viewers he talked to "vomit". Despite this pointed criticism, the segment continued to air at the end of every edition until Spencer's departure, expanding to the point where viewers made a
multiple choice on what Spencer would wear on the next broadcast. O'Brien would appear one more time on the final episode of
The Insider nine years later, congratulating the show's staff and crew for their work. After the departure of O'Brien, the show was hosted by Spencer alone until January 2009, when
Samantha Harris (who had previously served as a correspondent for
E! News) joined the program as a permanent co-host. Harris also provided analysis and commentary as part of her duties as co-host of
ABC's
Dancing with the Stars until her departure from the reality competition series at the start of 2010.
Changes in format and hosts During September 2009, the program converted to a panel format, featuring a roundtable discussion and debate format (similar to
Pardon the Interruption or the "Hot Topics" segment of
The View) with three permanent co-hosts and a guest host discussing entertainment topics, although that was also modified as actress
Niecy Nash became a fourth
de facto host and the program added a rotating fifth guest host slot. As a result, the on-air correspondents were effectively dismissed, with stories being compiled by
Entertainment Tonight staff or off-camera personnel. The format was changed once again in September 2010, restoring it to a more traditional entertainment newsmagazine concept with Spencer and
Chris Jacobs as co-hosts. Industry analysts had surmised that the change was a precursor to testing Spencer in the traditional
ET format without placing her on that show, as
Entertainment Tonights longtime primary anchor
Mary Hart had announced her retirement from that program at the end of the 2010–2011 season; however,
Nancy O'Dell would be appointed to succeed Hart as co-anchor at the end of May 2011. On March 5, 2011, CBS Television Distribution announced that
Kevin Frazier would become co-anchor of the program, replacing Jacobs, who moved to
Entertainment Tonight as a correspondent for that program. Twelve days later on March 17, it was announced that Spencer would leave the program by the start of May to become the lifestyle anchor for
Good Morning America. Spencer was replaced by
Brooke Anderson, who had served as co-host of
HLN's
Showbiz Tonight. During the week of the
Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, Anderson split her reporting duties between CNN and
The Insider. At the start of its seventh season on September 4, 2011, the program was refocused more as a straight entertainment news show, with many of the tabloid elements of the Spencer/O'Brien era being removed; additionally, the program's website was refocused to be more of a straight competitor to
TMZ.
Partnership with Yahoo! On October 24, 2012, CBS Television Distribution reached a
brand licensing and content agreement with
Yahoo! to pool content between the latter's celebrity/gossip news division,
omg!, and
The Insider. Through this agreement, the program was retitled as
omg! Insider on January 7, 2013. On January 1, 2014, executive producer Brad Bessey announced in a video on the program's
Facebook account that the show would restore its original title on January 6, while retaining all other elements. The reinstatement of the show's original title resulted from Yahoo CEO
Marissa Mayer's decision to rebrand of some of Yahoo's platforms, including "omg!", which changed its name to "Yahoo Celebrity"; however, both entities continue to share stories and content with one other. The Yahoo! partnership was discontinued on September 12, 2016. In August 2014, Kevin Frazier departed
The Insider to become co-anchor the weekday edition of
Entertainment Tonight, on which he had previously served as a weekend anchor and correspondent from 2004 to 2011. He was replaced on September 8 of that year by
Louis Aguirre, who joined the program after fifteen years as host of the similarly formatted
Deco Drive on
Fox affiliate
WSVN in
Miami. On June 16, 2015,
The Wrap reported that special correspondent
Debbie Matenopoulos would replace
Thea Andrews as co-host of
The Insider; Matenopoulos replaced Andrews, who departed from the program, on July 6.
Cancellation Because of declining ratings, CBS Television Distribution announced the cancellation of
The Insider after 13 years on February 7, 2017. The final show aired on September 9. ==Syndication model==