Tne NYT reports (Tabloid Baby responds):
The three-month-old television version of “TMZ,” which is based on the popular Web site about the foibles of Britney, J. Lo and the like, continues to rank as the top-rated new show in syndication.
Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ.com and the host of the series, said he has been thrilled with the popularity of the celebrity gossip show.
“The Web site was such a breakout that a lot of people were scoffing at the notion that we would, as they put it, ‘revert back to TV,’” Mr. Levin said in an interview this week. “I think people were almost writing it off as something that would fail, something that everyone else was doing on TV, and that it wouldn’t have the freshness of the Web site and I think it does.”
The “TMZ” staff holds a 6:30 a.m. P.T. meeting to plot the day’s coverage. The program is produced at 1 p.m.; a few affiliates broadcast it live and most others show it later in the day.
