AT&T is in talks with Fox to sell popular celebrity gossip site TMZ.

Its sister show TMZ On TV already airs on Fox's local stations, making the deal no surprise.

TMZ launched in 2005 - which is short for 'Thirty Mile Zone' - after it rose in popularly for breaking several large entertainment news stories, including the fallout of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's marriage and Mel Gibson's DUI arrest.

The thirty mile zone is the roughly-defined area of Los Angeles which encompasses the city's entertainment industry. 

TMZ made its name during the 2000s with an astonishing string of showbiz exclusives, although the site is now best known for breaking news of celebrity deaths first, including that of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. 

The company is also preparing to to merge WarnerMedia with Discovery in a $43billion deal that might not close until mid-2022.

It has made serious investments with Spectrum as 5G rolls out across the nation.  AT&T only bought WarnerMedia three years ago to create real value after launching HBO Max.

AT&T's CEO John Stankey said last month that the WarnerMedia/Discovery deal with on track.  

AT&T has already been selling off non-core assets, like TMZ, to raise cash to pay off the company's debts.  

In June, it sold Playdemic, a mobile games studio, for $1.4billion to Electronic Arts, and recently closed a deal on its anime business Crunchyroll with Sony's Funimation group for $1.2billion. 

AT&T also announced that their satellite TV provider DirecTV - which they bought in 2015 for $67billion - will become a standalone video business. This deal comes after a $16billion buyout from TPG Capital. 

Under the terms of the agreement, TPG will invest $1.8billion into DirecTV, which will borrow money to pay AT&T $7.6billion in cash. 

The company is choosing to focus on 'connectivity and content,' according to CEO John Stankey.

It is prioritizing its 5G connectivity with Spectrum and it's streaming service HBO Max.