• by Wayne Friedman , January 17, 2007

LAS VEGAS--To industry observers, Warner Bros.' announcement about starting up another syndicated TV entertainment magazine show seemed a bit redundant--especially in a syndication world that is short on time periods and long on copycat programming.

On Monday, a day before the start of the National Association of Television Program Executives convention here, Warner Bros. announced that it would be launching "TMZ"--based on the popular celebrity/tabloid Web site--and that the Fox owned-and-operated stations had signed on.

One obvious and immediate question from industry critics was why Warner Bros. would need to launch a new celebrity/entertainment TV magazine show when many already dot the early evening time periods--"Entertainment Tonight," "Access: Hollywood," "The Insider," "Inside Edition," and even Warner Bros.' own "Extra."

The answer is that all these shows skew to a common and typical syndication viewer. "It turns out all these shows have aged--have 50-plus viewers--and are also very female," said Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

It also turned out the Fox owned-and-operated stations--which had long used off-network sitcoms as its staple for early evening pre-prime-time schedules--were looking for alternative young-skewing 18-49 first-run programming, possibly in the news and information area.

Unfortunately, many entertainment magazine shows were already taken. Most syndicated magazine shows--"Entertainment Tonight," "Access: Hollywood," "The Insider," and even Warner Bros.' own "Extra"--are shows that have long resided on ABC, NBC, and CBS station affiliates.

And there was another problem. "News programming is generally old," said Werner. "Fox prime-time brand is generally younger and hipper. Sixty-six percent of Fox's delivery is with 18-49 viewers."

Fox didn't want just a good 18-49 vehicle, but one that would also attract more men, and also one that had a big Internet component. Werner said Warner Bros. then went looking at the Internet for news content that might attract younger and more male viewers.

TMZ.com was a perfect fit. It was started by Harvey Levin, himself a long-time entertainment producer/reporter. Last December it had some 2.1 million unique monthly visitors, but now has steadily grown to some 15 million unique visitors. "TMZ had a different story line [than other celebrity/entertainment areas]. It is edgy. It is young," says Werner.

TMZ was a good choice because of what stations have asked of syndicators. Selling a traditional TV news/information show to stations isn't enough these days--they want the added benefit of a strong Internet presence.

"The data tells them they should be building out their Internet space," says Werner. "The conundrum is the revenue isn't there yet." Stations also know they "need entertainment content [on their website] because it is sticky."

So Warner Bros. decided to create a localized TMZ module that can be put on a station's home page. "It's not a link," said Werner. "It basically involves no work. They can put this on their home page. It all tied in to the TV show."

Warner Bros. believes the market isn't just limited to Fox. Stations such as CW affiliates and other younger-skewing independent stations also want the same things in early evening--a young-skewing news/information show that allows stations to grab local news programming advertising dollars that they haven't had before.