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'Seeker' gets second look

Disney renews drama for second season

By CYNTHIA LITTLETON

Tribune has renewed Disney's and Sam Raimi's 'Legend of the Seeker,' for a second season in syndication.

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Disney's experiment in reviving the firstrun syndie drama biz with the Sam Raimi-produced "Legend of the Seeker" has paid off with a second-season renewal on the Tribune Broadcasting stations.

Filmed in New Zealand and based on Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" book series, "Seeker" has delivered a credible 2.0 household rating or so in its run to date. It scored a 1.6 household rating for the week ended Jan. 11.

Its two-hour preem in November posted a 2.9, indicating an appetite among viewers for the kitschy fantasy-action genre that peaked in the late 1990s with "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess."

Disney-ABC Domestic Television is also filling a void for TV stations such as Tribune's CW affils that used to thrive with firstrun dramas. Tribune stations run "Seeker," a "Lord of the Rings"-esque vehicle, on Saturday nights when there is no CW-supplied programming.

Tribune's stations account for 35% of "Seeker's" national clearances and cover most of its key top markets.

(Daniel Frankel contributed to this report.)