Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Has Renewed Hit Entertainment News Program "TMZ" for Two Additional Seasons in 97% of the Country, including the Fox Television Stations

Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) has renewed Telepictures Productions’hit entertainment news program “TMZ” for two additional seasons in 97% of the country, it was announced today by WBDTD President Ken Werner.

“From the outset, ’TMZ’was targeted toward an audience that the other entertainment news shows were not serving, a younger (18–49), more gender-balanced group of people interested in a different visual and editorial point of view,” said Werner. “In its first two years, ’TMZ’has wonderfully delivered on that target. The announcement today that we have two-year deals in virtually the entire country is a great endorsement by our station partners and an indication that ’TMZ’is a franchise stations can count on for years to come.”

WBDTD had previously announced the renewal of “TMZ” for two seasons on the Fox Television Stations last November, and it now has locked up two-year renewals with stations from the following additional groups: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Broadcasting, Barrington Broadcasting, ComCorp, ACME Television, Grant Communications, Gray Television, Raycom, Hoak Media, LIN TV, Lambert Broadcasting, Newport Television, Max Media, Media General, Meredith, New Age Media, New Vision Television, Newport Television, Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Northwest Broadcasting, Pappas Telecasting and Smith Media, among others.

These sales covers the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 seasons for “TMZ,” the #2 entertainment news program season-to-date in syndication among Adults 18–49, Women 18–49 and Adults 25–54, and #1 among Adults 18–34. (Source: Nielsen Media Research, Live + SD AA Ratings, Premiere–2/8/09).

“TMZ” debuted in September 2007 with the Fox Television Stations serving as the primary station launch group, and went on to become the highest-rated new first-run strip of the 2007–2008 season among Households and all key Women and Adult demographics. The program features several multiplatform elements for affiliates, including a branded module that resides on each station’s home page, creating a fully-integrated entertainment news destination that is continuously updated with information about stories featured daily on “TMZ.”

Season to date in 2008–2009, “TMZ” is averaging a 2.0 Household rating, equaling its performance through the same week last year. The show also posts a season-to-date 1.4 rating among Women 18–49, up +8% from 1.3 through the same week last year; a 1.4 rating among Women 25–54, up +8% from 1.3 through the same week last year; and a 1.4 rating among Women 18–34, up +17% from 1.2 through the same week last year. (Source: Live + SD AA Ratings, Premiere–2/10/08 vs. Premiere–2/8/09).

Originating from the heart of Hollywood on the famed Sunset Strip, “TMZ” brings the TMZ.com brand to television, expanding on the Web site’s mission as a 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week entertainment news destination that goes where stars work, live and play to take viewers on a trip through a world where the reality is even more fascinating than the hype. Produced by Harvey Levin Productions, Inc. and paraMedia, inc. in association with Telepictures Productions, the series is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. Harvey Levin and Jim Paratore are the program’s executive producers.

Since its launch in November 2005, TMZ.com – a joint venture between Telepictures Productions and AOL – has become the Internet’s number one entertainment news destination. TMZ.com is consistently credited with breaking stories dominating the entertainment news landscape and is one of the most cited entertainment news sources in the world.

About Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) is one of the leading suppliers of entertainment programming to the domestic television marketplace, distributing first-run syndicated series, off-network television programs and theatrical motion pictures to local broadcast television stations, as well as to pay, cable, satellite and broadcast networks throughout the U.S. WBDTD handles the domestic distribution of television series produced by Warner Bros. Television, Telepictures Productions, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Horizon Television; selected HBO Independent Productions and the Lorimar Television library; current feature films from Warner Bros. Pictures; and the Studio’s unmatched motion picture library.

About Telepictures Productions
Telepictures Productions is an industry-leading and Emmy® Award-winning producer of television programming for the first-run syndicated marketplace (having garnered 54 Emmys® in 12 years, including Outstanding Talk Show/Outstanding Talk Show Host for 10 of the last 12 years), as well as original digital content for broadband and wireless.