Lara Spencer is leaving CBS Television Distribution’s The Insider for ABC News, where she will be a lifestyle anchor for Good Morning America beginning in May.
Spencer has been with The Insider for seven seasons and also contributed to CBS News’ morning program The Early Show. She joined the entertainment magazine from ABC News, where she was a correspondent on GMA. Prior to that she worked at ABC’s New York O&O WABC.
Linda Bell Blue, executive producer of The Insider and Entertainment Tonight, characterized Spencer’s departure as “bittersweet.”
“We are grateful for all of her contributions since day one of The Insider,” said Bell Blue. “We respect her decision to accept this exciting opportunity and wish her every success in her new job.”
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The Insider is in the midst of restructuring recently promoting Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier to co-host of The Insider on March 7. A new co-anchor for Frazier will be announced shortly, according to Aaron Meyerson, president of programming and development at CBS Television Distribution.
Nancy O’Dell was named as Mary Hart’s replacement on Entertainment Tonight in November.
“We will soon announce the co-anchor who will join Kevin and are confident the show will seamlessly continue to deliver the entertainment insider perspective our viewers have come to rely on,” said Meyerson.
At GMA, Spencer will lead entertainment coverage. She also focus on family, parenting, health, fitness and work-life balance issues and contribute to the new org’s late-night news program Nightline. ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced the new hire this morning.
“In May, our very own Lara Spencer will come home to ABC News as Good Morning America‘s lifestyle anchor,” Sherwood wrote in an email to staffers. “In this new role, Lara will bring her well-known and much admired versatility and vitality to a broad range of GMA stories.”
