'Phil' talks up renewals
Show has also notched several time slot upgrades
The hit show also has racked up a number of time period upgrades.
"There have been a lot of upgrades, from morning to afternoon, or even 5 to 7 -- that's right, in access time periods," Roger King, CEO of CBS Enterprises and King World Prods., told Daily Variety. "It's in primetime in some cases, too."
Show will go to primetime on Phoenix indie KTVK starting Monday and on WJXT Jacksonville, Fla., starting in September. "Dr. Phil" already airs in primetime on KRON San Francisco.
"A mega-hit show opens up a lot of doors," King said.
License fee increases generally are built into two-year deals. But it's when a hit show is renewed that a distributor rakes it in.
"We haven't had one station complain," King said, declining to specify the license fee tally. "It's a lot more money, of course, but they're making a lot more.
"Stations love to renew shows," King added. "You never overpay for a hit. You always overpay for a failure."
King said he expects to continue making station clearance deals on "Dr. Phil" and upcoming "Living It Up! With Ali & Jack" next week, during the National Assn. of Television Program Execs confab in New Orleans.
Distrib already has inked two-year deals for upcoming "Living It Up!" on stations covering more than 70% of the U.S. "Living It Up!" debuts this fall.
"Out of all the years I've gone to NATPE, the timing with this NATPE -- with all the shows just getting launched, by getting their New York and L.A. clearances -- I think there will be a lot of business done," King said. Competitors have "got to catch up to me somehow."
Among the shows recently cleared on launch groups are Warners' talkers with Sharon Osbourne and Ellen DeGeneres, which were cleared on the Tribune and NBC-owned stations, respectively. Also, NBC Enterprises recently pacted with NBC O&Os on reality series "Starting Over."
