Disney Channel is going for a second round of Gravity Falls. It’s TV’s No. 1 animated series across Kids 2-11 (2 million viewers/5.1), Kids 6-11 (1.6 million/6.7) and Tweens 9-14 (1.3 million/5.4). ...
But if you want to talk about a REALLY big deal ...
Twenty-four years after its premiere, The Simpsons is finally going to get an off-network syndication sale on cable. Twentieth Television, the syndication arm of 20th Century Fox TV, is preparing to take out the monster property to cable networks. The plan, first reported by TVGuide, would allow the longest-running entertainment series currently on TV for the first time to air simultaneously in cable and broadcast syndication.
When The Simpsons, a rare broadcast animated series, was sold in broadcast syndication in 1993 as cable TV was still in its infancy, the stations that bought it were in position to secure exclusivity while the show was on Fox’s air. Other series with similar deals are long gone, but The Simpsons has kept going, periodically raising the issue of lost revenue from a potential cable sale in a time where a combo broadcast and cable off-network sales is the norm. ... Twentieth TV’s pacts with broadcast stations have been gradually tweaked over the years to allow the carving out of a cable window that will not impact the broadcast syndie run. A cable sale, which could fetch as much as $1 billion for the 530 episodes and counting, also won’t have an impact on Fox’s future plans for The Simpsons, which can continue on the network while airing in broadcast and cable off-network syndication.
The Simpsons has been a mint of gargantuan proportions for News Corp. and Gracie Films since the time of Bill Clinton's first inauguration. It's been a worldwide hit for almost as long, and toys, t-shirts, games, and ongoing DVD collections have all contributed to the flood of money. (I once did a back-of-the envelope calculation on the bucks pulled in by domestic sales of The Simpsons' little silver disks, and figured it had to be around $150 million of pure profit in the U.S. alone. And that dough was just one corner of the top of a mammoth iceberg.)
The syndication deal will pull in lots more cash. I'm sure all the stakeholders will be delighted. And maybe the artists will get to work a few more seasons. Win-win!
Posts
1 comments:
I really like Gravity Falls. I wonder why are there long gaps in between the airing of new episodes. It's the only show I currently DVR on that network. I wonder that's how Disney treats all of its other shows.
Post a Comment