Monday, March 19, 2007

Syndication Update: "Let's Play Crosswords" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"

- Program Partners' and Merv Griffin new game show Let's Play Crosswords, which already cleared five NBC O&Os, has now cleared 65% of the country, making the program a "firm go" for this fall. Station groups that bought the show include stations owned by Belo, Tribune, Young, and Raycom.

Notable clearances: The show has cleared duopolies for the most part, but the program did clear stand alone stations in Sacramento (KTXL/Fox), St. Louis (KPLR/CW), Charlotte (WCNC/NBC), and San Diego (KGTV/ABC), Buffalo (WGRZ/NBC) and Dayton (WHIO/CBS).

Interestingly, the show has not cleared four markets where NBC owns stations and were not part of the original deal, such as Philadelphia and Miami. There's a possibility those stations may come on later.

To see the full list of clearances, click here.

- NBC Universal has cleared the off-network drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 97% of the country, including Fox-owned MyNetworkTV stations in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago (WPWR-TV).

Notable clearances: Three ABC affiliates - in Boston (WCVB), Washington D.C. (WJLA), and Detroit (WXYZ) have cleared the show. NBC affiliate WXIA in Atlanta also has hopped on board.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent is the first off-network program to be sold in traditional broadcast syndication as a strip in seven years.

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