It’s Official: Spike Acquires HBO’s ‘Entourage’

Network gets rights to all five seasons to date and future episodes

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/5/2009 9:00:00 AM

Spike TV has acquired the basic cable rights to HBO comedy Entourage. The deal, first reported last month by B&C, gives Spike the rights to all five seasons to date, as well as all future episodes.
 
Comedy Central will also get a window to air the series, most likely in late night. Both Comedy Central and Spike TV are part of the MTV Networks portfolio.
 
“It’s great, to have a shot at getting a wider audience and reach [for Entourage] than HBO has,” Entourage creator and executive producer Doug Ellin tells B&C. “It is a guys channel, and it is a great show that a lot of younger guys watch; it’s a perfect fit.”
 
Spike will begin airing Entourage in January 2010. The network hasn’t announced what it will pair the HBO comedy with, but it has a number of original comedies in development. An established half-hour show like Entourage would serve as a strong springboard for the cabler’s originals.
 
Details of the agreement, including license fees, were not available at press time.