For more than 20 seasons, ET has aired in first-run syndication (in November 2000 it aired its 5,000th show), maintaining consistently high ratings and clearance in 95 percent of the American markets (already secured in several through 2009) as well as more than 70 countries worldwide. It debuted on September 14, 1981, ideally suited for local stations looking to program a half hour of their federally mandated prime-access daypart (the hour slot preceding prime time). The brainchild of Al Masini, otherwise known for creations such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Solid Gold, and Star Search, ET is an “infotainment” magazine presenting news-style coverage focused on the world of entertainment. This narrow-focus news approach was novel in 1981, as was the innovative strategy of satellite delivery it helped pioneer. Since very few local stations owned satellite dishes at the time, some reports credit ET’s distribution partner with promising stations free satellite dishes in exchange for licensing the series. Then, rather than receive the show physically (on tape, say, via courier), local stations could tape the satellite broadcast of the show and air it at their convenience anytime that same day. This meant that the show had the “up-to-the-minute” feel of a newscast. Such timeliness was not previously associated with non-network programming, and ET played It up by modeling its look and presentation on the news (complete with two anchors introducing stories from a desk in a studio) and emphasizing the freshness, indeed the date, of each program (with such features as “today's” celebrity birthdays).

For local stations, the show was thus fresher than off-network, syndicated reruns while being much cheaper than producing their own programming for the prime-access daypart. For national advertisers, ET became an alternative to networks for the airing of time-sensitive spots, including, not coincidentally, ads for music, television, and feature films– the very subject matter of ET’s enthusiastic reporting. Indeed, ET has so successfully branded itself a crucial Entertainment News outlet that press agents consider it a promotional must-stop, and, as one station rep remarked, “if you're advertising a movie you have to be in there.” Be cheerful, uncontroversial, and promotional atmosphere thus marked the program in ad-speak as “family friendly” and therefore “basically ad friendly”--so much so that recent estimates suggest the program makes as much as $90 to $100 million per year.

Despite this appealing strategy, ET experienced a tumultuous first season, going through four executive producers in one year. Two of the original three anchors were also quickly replaced. Soap actor Tom Hallick left in the first month. Former Miss World Majorie Wallace was replaced with Dixie Whatley the next month. By the start of the second season, current anchor Mary Hart had in turn replaced Whatley. This early turmoil resulted in part from what has continued to be if not the animating tension of the show then at least a sore spot: negotiating between serious journalism and gossipy promotion. The show began by attempting to present a pleasing atmosphere of celebrity-driven news while simultaneously acting as an industry “watchdog.”Thus, early shows presented investigative reports on the Moral Majority’s media influence or the “Washington-Hollywood connection,” while the same episodes also went “behind the scenes” of soon-to-be-released Hollywood films. ET thus takes its news gathering seriously (the Associated Press cites the show as a source, and longtime anchor Mary Hart has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame) but recognizes that the “puff” pieces are what makes the show attractive.

Another source of Attraction stems from the Innovative way in which the show packages its content. Eager to attract and hold viewers, each show begins with a tightly produced teaser of that day's stories, leading into a garish title sequence before revealing the two smiling anchors. Throughout each show, dazzling bumpers tease the viewer with upcoming stories. The celebrated Graphics of the title sequence won the show an Emmy in 1985, and the overproduced look of the show (set, graphics, lighting, editing, and so on) is constantly updated. The successful ET formula has proven style itself to be a crucial production strategy. Along with the latest entertainment news, the viewer experiences the latest and television production techniques. In this way, the show’s emphasis on promotion extends first and foremost to itself, exemplifying what television scholar John Thornton Caldwell has termed “televisuality,” an intentional production strategy of “stylistic exhibitionism” that emerged (along with ET) in the early 1980s as a means of attracting attention amidst an increasingly crowded array of viewing options. 

Indeed, utilizing the latest technology in its distribution and production, ET not only has covered the explosion of a conglomeratized media universe since its inception but is itself a living product of it.Originally produced as a collaboration between such companies as Paramount, a Hollywood studio, and Cox Broadcasting, a conglomerate with production and cable interests, the show was financially positioned from the start outside the network system. A harbinger of deregulated changes in the industry, ET is now wholly owned by Paramount (who had bought out its partners' interests by 1997), itself now a subsidiary of Viacom.

ET’s success has not been warmly received by all. Critics cite the show for the tabloidization of the media, inspiring a host of programming such as Access Hollywood, Extra, Hard Copy, Inside Edition, A Current Affair, the Cable News Network’s (CNN’s) Showbiz Today, even the cable channel E! Entertainment Network. As such, ET is blamed for encouraging a culture of gossip and scandal where distinctions between politics, entertainment, gossip, and news are blurred and celebrity and entertainment have been “elevated” to the status of news.

Despite these concerns, the show has been credited with (or blamed for) fostering a new kind of entertainment consumer, one informed by a certain kind of economic understanding of the industry (budgets and box office), the minutiae of production concerns, the pitfalls of celebrity, and a “behind-the-scenes” understanding of the products offered by the industry. Certainly the show has catalyzed changes in the way the entertainment industry promotes its products. The innovative behind-the-scenes features, reporting of TV ratings, movie box office returns, and album sales numbers it initiated in a popular context are now all standard promotional techniques.