Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Legend of the Seeker, News, Syndication, Syndication TV Ratings, Television.
Disney’s first-run syndicated sci-fi drama Legend of the Seeker, produced by Sam Raimi, has been renewed for a second season on the Tribune Broadcasting stations.
The series, filmed in New Zealand, is based on Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth book series, and has averaged a solid 2.0 household rating this season thus far. The most recent episode drew a 1.6 household rating. The two-hour series premiere debuted with a 2.9 household rating in November.
Tribune’s stations account for 35% of ‘Seeker’s’ national clearance and covers most of its key top markets.
Source: Variety
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Legend of the Seeker, News, Syndication, Television, Wizard's First Rule.
The biggest news out of the panel for the Sam Raimi produced Syndicated series Wizard’s First Rule, was that the show has a new title: Legend of the Seeker. According to the panelists and the author, Terry Goodkind, the name change was made to focus on the hero of the book, rather than the main book of the series. Here are some highlights from the panel courtesy TVSquad.com.
- The show will begin airing in Syndication on November 1st (filming has already begun) and has been cleared in about 97% of the nation. It will air on Saturday nights.
- The first season will be 22 episodes, including the two-hour season premiere. Each episode will be standalone and feature a beginning and an end. It will cover the main plot points of Wizard’s First Rule.
- Everyone on the panel agreed that the syndication market was the right avenue for the series.
- They announced that Bruce Spence (The Matrix Revolutions) will portray Zedd and Jay Laga’aia (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) will portray the boundary patrolman Chase.
Click here to read the full report and to check out some photos from the panel.
They also debuted a new trailer which can be found at this link.
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Syndication, Television, Wizard's First Rule.
Wizard’s First Rule, the Sam Raimi-produced series adapted from the Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth books, will premiere on November 1st in syndication.
“Adapting Terry Goodkind’s brilliant work for television is a thrilling opportunity,” says Raimi, who’s an executive producer of the show. “The amazing characters and heartfelt story combined with the captivating backdrop of New Zealand will have viewers on the edge of their seats.”
Wizard’s First Rule will be one of the very few scripted series airing in first-run syndication. It’s been cleared to run in all of the top 50 markets, and 95% of the country overall.
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Deal or No Deal, Syndication, Television.
NBC Universal has announced that Deal or No Deal has been cleared to begin airing in national syndication this fall. This new edition of the game show will differ from the series which airs on NBC in that it will be a half-hour in length. The full press release follows after the jump.
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Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in House, Monk, News, Syndication, Television.
NBC Universal Domestic Television has cleared both House and Monk for off-network broadcast syndication. Details follow after the jump.
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Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Syndication, Television, Wizard's First Rule.
Sam Raimi’s original series Wizard’s First Rule from ABC/Disney has been cleared to air in syndication. Based on the Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind, the series will air for 22 episodes with production scheduled to begin in May.
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Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Judge Judy, News, Syndication, Television.
Court show Judge Judy Sheindlin has inked a new multiyear deal with CBS Television Distribution to continue with her show Judge Judy, and the CBS Television Stations group has renewed the top-rated court show for two more seasons.
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Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Jericho, News, SCI FI Channel, Syndication, Television.
The off-network cable rights to fan favorite drama series Jericho from CBS Television have been picked up by the SCI FI Channel. The network gets the rights to the first two seasons of the show.
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Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Boston Legal, News, Syndication, Television.
In its fourth season on ABC, drama Boston Legal has been cleared by distributor 20th Century Fox for off-network syndication in 50% of the nation for the 2008/2009 season.
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Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in My Name Is Earl, NBC, News, Syndication, TBS, Television, The Office.
In an unexpected deal, NBC Universal has put together a $100+ million package for the rerun rights to NBC’s two hit comedies: The Office and My Name Is Earl. TBS will get the cable rights, while 10 Fox O&O (owned and operated) stations will get the network rights in a shared-window deal.
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Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Renewals, Syndication, Television.
Debmar-Mercury have announced that the sci-fi drama The Dead Zone, which will start its sixth season on USA Network this summer, has been cleared in 85% of the country (including all top ten markets) for a fall national launch.
In addition to the new series, Debmar also announced that gameshow Family Feud will be coming back for another season (also cleared in 85% of the nation). The show (in one form or another) has been on the air for 30 years, and shows no signs of going anywhere anytime soon.
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Syndication, Television.
MGM will distribute Comedy Central’s series Chappelle’s Show in syndication this fall.
The series will be offered in weekend syndication for stations, unlike another Comedy Central show Reno 911! which will be stripped Monday through Friday’s (also from MGM).
“As we continue to expand our syndication ad sales business, it’s exciting to bring to the marketplace successful and high impact programs,” Mr. Packer said. “Our dedicated team is looking forward to handling sales for ‘Reno 911!’ and ‘Chappelle’s Show,’ two of Comedy Central’s top rated series.”
Source: — [TVWeek] — MGM to Distribute ‘Chappelle’ in Syndication
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Cancellations, News, Syndication, Television.
After only a little more than one year on the air, Geraldo at Large (from 20th Century Fox) has been canceled from syndication. Production on the show will cease mid-January, while the show will air its last episodes by the end of the month.
Television Week is reporting via a source that the cancellation could make way for a Warner Bros.’ newsmagazine based on the website TMZ.com to replace the show on the Fox stations currently airing Geraldo at Large in syndication.
Source: — [TVWeek] — ‘Geraldo at Large’ Canceled
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Syndication, Syndication TV Ratings, Television.
Remastered episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series are pacing upwards after a slow start back in September of last year.
The last newly aired episode (“The Corbomite Maneuver”) ran during the week of December 9, 2006 and registered a 1.6 household rating. That marks a season high for the series and a noteworthy increase from the 1.3 household rating of the first known rating for the series (“The Devil in the Dark” aired the second week of syndication, while “Balance of Terror” aired in the first week but ratings are unknown for that episode due to Nielsen calculation errors).
After hovering around that range for its first 9 weeks, Star Trek jumped up 33% over five weeks to its current season high (1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.4, 1.6). Interestingly enough, Enterprise went through a similar trend last season.
It’s also the first time Star Trek has registered a stronger rating than Enterprise (1.6 vs a 1.5– view chart below for a detailed view).
Star Trek was the second highest rated program in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Syndication category behind the 1.9 of Alias for the week of December 11 to December 17 (Note: Star Trek airs in a nine-day window, so ratings are registered over a two-week time frame). Other programs in the SF&F category were; Smallville – 1.4, Stargate SG-1 – 1.3, Stargate Atlantis – 1.2, Farscape – 0.7 and The Outer Limits – 0.6.
The show is currently averaging a 1.3 household rating, just slightly below what Star Trek: Enterprise averaged in its first and only season in off-network broadcast syndication last year (1.4, with a peak of 1.7).
New remastered episodes begin airing again this weekend (January 6, 2007) with “Friday’s Child”.
I’ve included a graph which compares the first 13 episodes of Star Trek: Remastered in syndication to the first 13 episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise in syndication (click to view).
Note: The rating for the eighth aired episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” is also unknown.
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Cancellations, News, Syndication, Television.
The low-rated syndicated talk show has been pulled by NBC Universal. Cast and crew were told on Wednesday that production would cease immediately. It will continue to air through the end of January, as originally scheduled.
NBCU had the following to say in a statement: “We are very proud of the hard work and effort that our staff put into the production of this show. And our host, Megan Mullally, is truly one of the most talented people in our business. We are grateful to have partnered with her on the show and are appreciative for her tireless commitment, effort and dedication to this endeavor.”
Source: — [Broadcasting & Cable] — NBCU Pulls Plug on Megan Mullally
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Renewals, Syndication, Television.
King World (a division of CBS TV) has renewed the two longest running gameshows in syndication; Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for two more years, extending their runs through 2012. The previous contracts for the show had them running through 2010. The shows will now
‘Wheel’ is in its 24th season, while Jeopardy is in its 23rd. When the deal runs out, their runs will be 29 and 28 years, respectively.
“The ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Jeopardy!’ production teams are simply the best,” said Harry Friedman, the show’s executive production through Sony Pictures TV. “With these unprecedented renewals, we will continue to infuse our classic games with energy and originality through 2012 and beyond.”Both game shows are among the most watched syndicated television. The December 4-12 editions of the shows had the following ratings:
Wheel of Fortune — 8.8 HH rating – 9.820M households, 13.357M viewers (#1)
Jeopardy — 6.9 HH rating – 7.703M households, 10.220M viewers (#3)
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Syndication, Television.
The hit ABC drama “Grey’s Anatomy” has been secured by Buena Vista Television in 14 of the top 15 tv markets in the United States for a off-net run beginning in 2009.
“Grey’s Anatomy’ is having a phenomenal run on the ABC network and it has become a prized acquisition in the syndication marketplace,” said Jed Cohen, executive VP and general sales manager of Buena Vista. “We are thrilled that it has found a home on these fine stations in the top markets, which will provide an ideal launch platform for the blockbuster series.”
The series is currently in its third season and is a critical hit, having passed CSI on Thursday nights in viewers and adults 18-49 (where it continually places first every week in the key demo among dramas).
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Nielsen Ratings, Syndication, Syndication TV Ratings, Television.
“Martha”, the syndicated talk show, has been renewed for a third season.
The program is down about 24% season to date (1.7 to 1.3), but it has shown some signs of improvement, delivering a 1.4 in its most recent weekly rating.
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Syndication, Television.
Beginning in the fall of 2007, ‘Criminal Intent’ will air in a stripped Monday to Friday format, foregoing the more popular weekend window that most syndication series run in.
This marks the first time since the 2001/2002 syndication year of “7th Heaven” that a drama has aired in a Monday to Friday format.
Criminal Intent is currently in its 6th season on NBC, where it airs there every Tuesday night at 9:00 PM. The series also runs in weekday off-net syndication on USA Network, where it airs weekly, with a repeat of the Tuesday night NBC episode airing every Sunday. The series also airs on Bravo, in a three hour Sunday night block.
“Law & Order: Criminal Intent” is averaging about 11.52M viewers a week this season.
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Syndication, Television.
All 109 episodes of “Baywatch” will be stripped for syndication starting fall of 2007.
The term of the syndication package will run for three years.
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