"ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" KICKS OFF 20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

The Season Long Celebration to Include #TBT, Celebrities' "First Time on 'Access,'" "Fashion Flashbacks" And Much More

[Universal City, CA]- Today, Access Hollywood celebrates a special milestone; its 20th Anniversary! To honor this achievement, the hit entertainment news show has planned a yearlong celebration. Every week, host Billy Bush, joined by correspondents Liz Hernandez and Kit Hoover, will look back at its breaking news coverage of the biggest and most memorable moments in pop culture from the last two decades.

Every Thursday on-air, Access will feature a #TBT segment. The first #TBT segment on Thursday, September 10th will come from Access' first episode which featured coverage of the 48th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. From there, #TBT will move chronologically from 1996 and will get to the present by season's end. Viewers can expect the following highlights: George Clooney on the set of E.R, a streaker interrupting Sandra Bullock's interview on the set of Speed 2, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the set of Good Will Hunting, Angelina Jolie celebrating her Golden Globe win for Gia by jumping in the pool with an Access producer at the Beverly Hilton, Billy Bush's exclusive in-depth interview with Tom Cruise about Scientology in 2005, Whitney Houston's last broadcast interview before her unexpected and untimely death and Michael Jackson's final interview before his passing.

The show will also dig back in its archives to uncover the first time Access Hollywood featured or interviewed Hollywood's biggest stars. The segment will be called "First Time on Access" and will kick-off today with Jamie Foxx from the set of The Jamie Foxx Show in 1996. Other "First Times" will include Access on the set of Men in Black catching Will Smith throwing air punches to the camera while admitting his dream role would be to play Muhammad Ali. Fast forward a couple of years, the actor would receive an Oscar nomination for playing the famed boxer in Ali. Also before she became a household name, Access was with a 17- year-old Blake Lively on prom night.

Access Hollywood has woven itself into the "fabric" of pop culture and as such, the show would be remiss if it didn't take a look back at the fashion trends from past decades. Every month, there will be "Fashion Flashbacks" which will feature package pieces showcasing the style evolution of today's most stylish stars. For the month of September, Sarah Jessica Parker will be highlighted. Other stars that will be featured include Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julie Roberts, Angelina Jolie, and Beyoncé.

The show is marking the anniversary with noticeable visual changes as well. This past summer, Access Hollywood received its own "facelift" when it moved to a custom built, state of the art studio in Universal City, known as the Terrace Studio. The set is streamlined and contemporary, featuring a 360-degree media and content driven environment, variable lighting design, and modularity that allows for better fan engagement. In addition, a brand new graphics package will be unveiled in tonight's broadcast.

"For 20 years, Access Hollywood has been at the forefront of pop culture, bringing our viewers fresh and innovative ways of presenting Hollywood news," says Executive Producer, Rob K. Silverstein, who has been with the show since its inception. "We are as excited about our show today as we were on September 9th, 1996."

Access Hollywood has found the right balance over the years as it is able to produce factual and engrossing celebrity driven news stories while still delivering consistently strong ratings for stations. Complementing the 24/7 news cycle and the internet, for the 2014-15 season, Access Hollywood averaged 2.4 million daily viewers, a year-to-year viewership growth of 2%. In the same 2014-15 season, competing entertainment news programs Insider, Entertainment Tonight and Extra saw ratings declines of 9%, 7% and 4% respectively. Also during the sweeps months of November, February and May, Access ranked as the #1 entertainment news show among women ages 25-54 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, and Washington DC.