'2 Broke Girls' Heads to TBS
At approximately $1.7 million per episode, sets basic cable record for sitcom pricing
By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/20/2012 11:57:00 AM
Updated: TBS has acquired Warner Bros.' 2 Broke Girls, the first sale to be announced after the syndicator shopped that show to cable networks and broadcast groups over the past few weeks.
"When 2 Broke Girls premiered last fall, it immediately found its audience and appeared to us to be a perfect fit for TBS," said Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), in a statement. "With its funny and endearing lead performances, a terrific supporting cast and sharp writing, 2 Broke Girls brings a fresh, contemporary, attitude to the classic sitcom format."
2 Broke Girls went to TBS -- a cable network that, like Warner Bros., is owned by Time Warner -- for approximately $1.7 million per episode, according to several sources, beating the price that TBS paid for Warner Bros.' The Big Bang Theory and USA paid for Twentieth's Modern Family, both of which sold for around $1.5 million. The show will premiere in syndication in fall 2015.
"Successful cable networks have built their programming slates with a strategic mix of acquired proven off-net series along with compelling original programming," said Ken Werner, president, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. "We are thrilled that 2 Broke Girls will have the opportunity to drive viewers to TBS in a similar way that The Big Bang Theory has, becoming a staple of their comedy line-up."
TBS bought The Big Bang Theory in May 2010 and the show has single-handedly driven TBS back to the top of the cable network rankings.
A broadcast sale for both 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Molly is expected to be coming shortly. Bids from cable networks for Mike & Molly are due this evening, and a cable deal for that show is expected next week.
Last season, 2 Broke Girls premiered as the top new show among the key adult 18-49 demographic and as the top new comedy among viewers. This season, CBS will air 2 Broke Girls in its key Monday 9 p.m. time slot, the time period formerly occupied by mega-hits Everybody Loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men.
2 Broke Girls stars Kat Dennings as Max, a poor but streetwise girl from Brooklyn, and Beth Behrs as Caroline, a formerly rich girl from the Upper East Side. Thrown together by fate, they are trying to make enough money to start their own cupcake business. The show is produced by Sex and the City's Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings, who also stars on her own sitcom, NBC's Whitney. The show is produced by Bonanza Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and MPK Productions.
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If I were in charge of program acquisitions for TBS, I would have only bought this series if my network could have exclusivity for the reruns over at least a two or three year period.
I would not want to share a syndication window with any broadcast station or any other cable network.
Joseph - 6/22/2012 2:38:59 PM EDT -
If TBS has $1.5 million per episode to put out for this show, they better not have their hand out for a huge price increase at cable carriage renewal time.
FrankM - 6/20/2012 7:11:59 PM EDT
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