Officials at Time Warner, whose mainstream news organizations decline to pay directly for information, say they let Levin run the show at TMZ and do not interfere.
What may make it even tougher for the website and the TV show to win over advertisers is TMZ's overall association with sensationalism and sleaze. During slow news times, the website thrives on "where are they now?" star updates and peekaboo photos of starlets' nudity. The TV show takes an even breezier approach toward celebrity ridicule; an episode this week led with an item making fun of Aretha Franklin's weight.
Some major advertisers such as Procter & Gamble have resisted advertising on TMZ, citing a desire to "maintain their integrity," said Tom Weeks, senior vice president at Starcom Entertainment, a division of advertising giant Starcom. But other companies have expressed no reservations about the show, he added.
Whether the show can last in the cutthroat world of TV syndication is an open question and one that may be crucial to deciding the long-term fate of the TMZ brand. But supporters of the show say signs are positive, noting that TMZ is the only TV celebrity news magazine that is expanding its audience.
"We're very pleased with the ratings," said Frank Cicha, senior vice president of programming for the Fox Station Group, which airs the show on 17 stations, including KTTV-Channel 11 in Los Angeles. "A lot of syndicated shows skew older. This one from the get-go was strong with the young demographics.
"It was abrasive to some viewers at first, but it was absolutely different," Cicha added. "Viewers have grown to like it." The Fox stations will air the show for at least two more years, he said.
Paratore draws a sharp distinction between TMZ television and rival entertainment news magazine shows such as CBS Paramount's juggernaut "Entertainment Tonight" or NBC Universal's "Access Hollywood."
"They are all part of the agenda of the studios' marketing efforts to promote their entertainment," he said. "Their coverage is determined by the publicists. And we are not part of the publicists' agenda. We're not trying to get invited on the next junket or get a spot on the red carpet."
The site's biggest asset, as even its detractors admit, is Levin, known as much for his consummate showmanship as for his tireless work habits. In fact, Levin and his website are often spoken of as one and the same. Photographed courtside at Lakers games and the subject of lengthy magazine interviews, he has himself become a celebrity, although not one who is ridiculed on TMZ.
"Harvey is the ringmaster," said Starcom's Weeks.
Already, his success has rivals reaching for grand allusions to try to make sense of it.
"Harvey Levin is Oz," said MSNBC's Hazlett. "There's something that's happening behind the curtain there. It only stands to reason that untraditional things are happening."
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scott.collins@latimes.com
meg.james@latimes.com
Times staff writers Greg Braxton and Kate Aurthur contributed to this report.
