Straight 'Sex' a tough sell
Reason unclear as to why cabler won't tone down series
It's unclear whether the reasons behind the pullback are HBO president Jeff Bewkes' second thoughts over bowdlerizing the series or the pay cabler's inability to interest enough buyers in the skein at its non-negotiable $750,000-per-episode asking price.
What's known is this: The network's syndication arm, HBO Enterprises, had drawn up an elaborate pitch pointing to the show's high ratings, slew of awards and the winning bidder's weekday exclusivity (having to share the reruns with TV stations only on weekends). Among the networks getting the sales presentation were Lifetime, USA, TBS, TNN, FX, A&E and Comedy Central.
HBO Enterprises had carefully edited six separate half-hour episodes, excising the nudity and four-letter words, to prove to potential buyers that a cleaned-up "Sex & the City" would work just as well as the raunchy original.
Fee too high
But various basic-cable sources say HBO slapped a stiff price tag of $750,000 per half-hour on the series and refused to budge, despite the fact that only one previous rerun comedy, Columbia TriStar TV Distribution's "Seinfeld," had ever fetched a higher tariff from basic cable. (TBS pre-bought "Seinfeld" two years ago for $1.05 million in a nonexclusive second cycle.)
No basic-cable network would admit to meeting HBO's asking price. Pay TV sources say at least one basic network did offer $750,000 a pop, but Bewkes decided not to make the deal. His rationale: a heavily edited "Sex and the City" hitting cable as early as the fall of 2002, when HBO would still be commissioning original episodes, could devalue the strength of the franchise, which averaged a powerhouse 8.9 rating in HBO homes Sundays at 9 p.m. in its most recent cycle of firstrun episodes.
One of Bewkes' oft-repeated rallying cries is that HBO should recycle reruns of its original series to the half-dozen multiplex clones of the network, strengthening the HBO brand by scheduling shows available on no other channel. Reruns of two of HBO's other successful off-network series, "The Sopranos" and "Oz," are also likely to stay within the HBO family.
One unanswered question brought up by HBO's walking away from a license fee of at least $63.75 million (based on 85 "Sex and the City" episodes multiplied by $750,000) is the legal recourse of profit participants like the show's executive producer, Darren Star.
Setting the bar
While Star might not be able to collect anything right now, the $750,000 figure could prove handy later.
For instance, one attorney with knowledge of writer-producer contracts says one scenario that would give Star leverage is if his HBO contract has a clause calling for "the imputing of a fair license fee." Star could then argue that the reruns are worth $750,000 an episode to HBO on its various multiplex channels because a basic-cable network was willing to put up that kind of money to buy it.
