Monday, October 29, 2007

Syndication Notes

- Warner Bros. new Bonnie Hunt Show has cleared 55 percent of the country, including WMAQ-TV in Chicago for next fall. Click here for a station list. Station groups clearing include NBC, Hearst-Argyle, Gannett, Belo, Tribune, Fox, Clear Channel, Young, and several more.

- Litton is syndicating two off-MTV shows - Pimp My Ride and Cribs to broadcast TV stations. Both shows are being marketed as nightly strips. Litton is hoping for better results after it found few takers for Baywatch, an off-network/syndication strip that was set to air in syndication this fall.

Viacom has outsourced its cable fare to independent syndicators for broadcast syndication, even before the CBS split in 2006 (Debmar-Mercury won the rights to syndicate South Park in 2004.) The exceptions were the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown, syndicated from April 1986 to June 1987, and Nickelodeon's Double Dare from January 1988 to September 1989.

- Speaking of Debmar-Mercury, the Lionsgate-owned company has hooked up with Discovery Communications to syndicate two of their most popular shows on the Discovery Channel to broadcast stations: American Chopper (available next fall) and Deadliest Catch (available fall 2009.) The programs are slated to be available on weekends, with an even 7:00N/7:00L barter split.

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