A very popular series on television is called TMZ that deals with the latest celebrity stories, gossip and scandals. You must have always wondered what does TMZ stand for? TMZ is actually an abbreviation for Thirty Mile Zone. This term first originated in the year 1960 and is also referred to as the studio zone. This zone is centered around the Los Angeles area and encompasses the old offices of The Association of Motion Pictures and La Cienega Boulevards and the Television Producers at Beverly in California. In addition to the above mentioned area, it also includes the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Conejo Ranch property. The entertainment industry of Hollywood and various talent guilds came up with this idea whereby they established this "Thirty Mile Zone", outside which, shooting for any movie or television series is considered to be a location shoot. So it is required that the production company takes necessary permissions and pay travel and other living expenses to its actors and technicians when shooting beyond this area. The Thirty Mile Zone represents the center of the movie business and the entertainment industry and it has been famously said that "Everything entertainment happens in the Thirty Mile Zone". It is rightly considered to be the epicenter of the show business. TMZ Explained Now that you know the abbreviation of TMZ, let us discuss TMZ on TV. The television series, TMZ has spawned from the success of TMZ.com which is a website that solely deals with celebrity news, gossip and scandals. This site was started in November 2005 and was initially a collaboration between America Online (AOL) and a division of Warner Bros. Production known as Telepicture Productions. The unprecedented success of this site as well as its TV series has proved that people love to read and watch celebrity interviews, gossip, video footages and anything to do with their favorite Hollywood stars. This site feeds on the current trend of American obsession about celebrities where even their daily and most mundane activities turns into something big and newsworthy. It is also one of the most successful of all online ventures, and since its inception in 2005 has raked in lot of moolah as well as advertisers. TMZ has many journalists as well as other independent sources who bring forward celebrity news and gossip. Although TMZ denies paying its sources, it however acknowledges that it pays a so-called "tip fee". It also states that they fully verify and recheck all tips and sources as well as every lead of a story before it is used as material for their TV show or website. TMZ Highlights TMZ has been known for reporting many breaking news related to celebrities.

• The most noteworthy among them is the report of the death of Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009. While other networks were still verifying and confirming reports of the rockstar's death, TMZ was the first to report the news.
• It was also the first to publish the photo of battered pop-star Rihanna, after she was assaulted by her ex boyfriend Chris Brown.
• TMZ was also the first to report about the forty-five day jail stint for heiress and socialite Paris Hilton for driving with a suspended license after losing her license for drunken driving.
• It was also the first to report on the arrest of Mel Gibson in July 2006 for DUI.

Criticism against TMZ TMZ has in fact faced a lot of flak and criticism for the tactics used by their journalist for obtaining celebrity news, videos and photos. They have also been criticized for using photos as well as videos that has been obtained from paparazzi. It has also come under heavy attack by Hollywood stars for invasion of privacy. Many industry insiders claim that its content has more to do with trashy gossip than any newsworthy information about upcoming movies and entertainment. Both the website and the television series are hugely popular and are raking in advertisers and revenue. This leads one to wonder, whether we genuinely love to watch celebrities or simply enjoy seeing them trip up and get embarrassed on camera. With our current fascination with celebs, that borders on obsession, is it any wonder that the ratings for TMZ show is on the rise.