Your TMZ or Mine?

By now, I am sure you have heard of a 'little' entertainment site called TMZ (an acronym for "Thirty Mile Zone" which represents the area within greater Los Angeles in which most celebrities live) and although I do not spend time on the site, I have a certain interest for a number of reasons.

So What Exactly Is Thirty Mile Zone?

TMZ (Owned by Time Warner/AOL) is an entertainment site started by Harvey Levin (I love Harvey and you may remember from The People's Court or Celebrity Justice). What makes TMZ notable is that it is more on the celebrity gossip style of reporting. You can read about the latest happenings among your favorite and not so much, on the site - the reporting is edgy, hip and positioned for a fresher and younger audience.

Believe me, over the last month the site has been working overtime with all of the recent 'celebrity' antics - I commend the staff of reporters and having been one, I completely understand a demanding public that needs constant entertainment!

The News?

Recently, I was speaking to a friend of mine at YouTube and had mentioned the phenomenal rise of entertainment news.

A few years back when I was in college, I was an on-air news anchor/reporter for a commercial station. I would have to gather, source, prepare and write material for my newscasts. Well, one day the O.J. Simpson debacle happened and everything changed....I was in class and received a call from the General Manager asking that I arrive at the station as soon as possible.

When I arrived there was complete chaos, every monitor was tuned to the infamous "White Ford Bronco" chase. Papers were flying, people were running around the station, the phones were ringing off the hook with people requesting to speak with me about what they were viewing on television; It was complete bedlam.

I had made a few phone calls to my friends at CNN to figure out what was going on, I had several special news updates from that afternoon and well into the night. I went home and slept for a couple of hours, and upon my return to the station (early morning), the phone lines were already back to constant - people were calling in to request O.J. Simpson updates!

News By Request...

I immediately went on the air in a very calm, collected manner and said, "We have received several requests in the newsroom for O.J. Simpson updates and we will have full coverage and updates every 20 minutes on this station, news by your request on (station call letters)". People LOVED IT and I delivered the goods! I did not have to write or report on any other stories for about a week.

At that time, I had realized that the public is insatiable when it comes to celebrity news. I had made up my mind that I was going to be an entertainment reporter - the other news was too straight and not fulfilling for the thinking person (and I am definitely more intellectual than most). It was more fun informing the public about something they wanted to hear...No one wants to hear about tragedy and world events - people want celebrity.

Back To The Zone

So this fall, TMZ will now become a syndicated television show (Warner Brothers Domestic Television) to air on Fox.

Now, of course this is not the only entertainment news program on television. There is also Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Access Hollywood, and E! Channel. However, the TMZ production (Harvey Levin Productions) will be the first cross-over from a popular web site to the television.

Having experience in both fields of web technology and television broadcasting, I am watching with great anticipation and have a few experiments of our own this fall...Stay tuned!