Syndie 'Flavor' a reality
TV distrib buys rights to five VH1 skeins
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Lionsgate-owned TV distributor Debmar-Mercury has bought the domestic syndication and cable rights to the VH1 shows, which together make up 175 half-hour episodes for availability in fall 2007. The seller is 51 Minds Entertainment, whose owners are Mark Cronin and Chris Abrego.
Within the next six weeks, Debmar-Mercury co-prexies Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein will approach Fox, Tribune and other station groups to gauge their interest.
"What's called celebreality has really taken off on VH1, and there are no shows like it in TV syndication," said Marcus. On Sunday, "Flavor of Love" harvested 3.3 million viewers, making it the highest-rated season-premiere episode in VH1 history.
Bernstein said Debmar-Mercury is still working on its sales plan, but there are three possible ways to go, depending on how potential buyers react:
- If stations jump at the chance to get the 175 half-hours and agree to schedule them in early-evening time periods, the distributor could sell an exclusive one- or two-year window for off-cable syndication.
- A cable network like TBS, A&E or E! Entertainment TV could become so eager to get exclusive dibs on the shows that it buys out the TV-syndication window.
- The best scenario for the distributor is a joint window, shared by both TV stations and a cable network, in which each would simultaneously play the episodes five times a week or more.
The three other VH1 series under the "Surreal Life" umbrella are "Strange Love," "My Fair Brady" and "The Surreal Life: Fame Games."
