VH1 opens summer window for four network telepics
Cabler launches 'Rock' fest
Music cabler has acquired "Take Me Home: The John Denver Story" from CBS; "Come On, Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story" from ABC; and "The David Cassidy Story" and "Little Richard" from NBC.
VH1 paid market rate for the network telepics, but in exchange for promoting some of the movies during VH1 programs, the cabler will be able to air the movies years before the typical basic cable window would open. As part of the deal for "John Denver," for instance, VH1 has the right to air it 45 days after its April 30 premiere on CBS.
VH1 has made various deals with broadcasters in the recent past. Last August, in exchange for promoting ABC’s Sonny and Cher biopic before it premiered on the Alphabet web, for example, VH1 got the rights to air "And the Beat Goes On: The Sonny and Cher Story" within ABC’s window.
Notably, VH1 opted not to purchase NBC’s "The ’70s" even though the net aired "The ’60s" last year. " ‘Behind the Music’-type movies fit better with our brand than movies like ‘The ’60s’ and ‘The ’70s," explained exec VP of programming and production Jeff Gaspin.
"The ’70s" also failed to generate much ratings heat when it aired last week on NBC.
Following the CBS-Viacom merger, VH1 and CBS are now corporate siblings. But Gaspin said that VH1 will not be relying exclusively on the Eye to supply its movies. "As long as it’s a music movie, it doesn’t matter what network it’s on," Gaspin said. "Whatever network that’s willing to do business with us, we’ll talk."
Role reversal?
The exec also anticipates a time in which a broadcast network licenses an original VH1 movie as a second window. "They could play it in the summer when they need more original material," suggested Gaspin, who said he is in talks about such a deal. Another possibility is that VH1 could team with a broadcast network and an outside producer to produce a telepic that would air on both nets in different windows.
As part of the "Movies That Rock" series, VH1 will air an original or acquired movie every Wednesday night through Sept. 6. "Over time, if it works, it could become a weekly event year ’round," Gaspin said. "Right now, it’s a summer stunt that I hope we’ll duplicate next year."
Summer originals
In addition to the four network movies, VH1 will premiere five original telefilms this summer: "It’s Only Rock & Roll," "Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story," "Out of Sync" and "Meat Loaf: To Hell and Back."
VH1 will also air "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," "Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys," "Elvis & Me," "This Is Spinal Tap" and "Dill Scallion," a mockumentary that looks at the rise and fall of a small-town bus driver who becomes a country music star by accident. VH1 will also air the network television premiere of "Blues Brother 2000."
(Josef Adalian in Hollywood contributed to this report.)
