Exclusive: CTD Clears TV Land's 'Hot in Cleveland' in 65% of the Country

Show sold to CBS-owned stations in five of the top-ten markets

By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/19/2012 2:00:00 PM

CBS Television Distribution has sold TV Land's Hot in Cleveland to TV stations covering more than 65% of the country, said Joe DiSalvo, CTD's president of sales, on Wednesday.

Stations picking up the show include CBS' WLNY New York, KCAL Los Angeles, WPSG Philadelphia, KTXA Dallas-Fort Worth and KBCW San Francisco, as well as Weigel Broadcasting's WCIU, Sunbeam Television's WLVI Boston, Gannett's WATL Atlanta and Belo's KHOU Houston. Stations from the Sinclair, LIN, Cox and Meredith broadcast groups also have bought the show.

Those sales encompass nine of the top 10 broadcast markets and 18 of the top 20 for a 2014 launch. The sale of Hot in Cleveland to CBS-owned stations in top markets now marks the third off-net sitcom buy for those stations, after the group bought Warner Bros.' 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Molly last month. CBS' acquisition of the formerly independently-owned WLNY in December has added another competitive sitcom buyer in big markets, along with Tribune, Fox, and Weigel in Chicago.

"Stations have enthusiastically embraced Hot in Cleveland and see huge potential for this sitcom in their lineups," DiSalvo said. "Hot in Cleveland has been a breakout hit for TV Land and is a perfect fit for the broad audience of broadcast syndication."

Debuting in June 2010, Hot in Cleveland's premiere episode was the highest-rated telecast in TV Land's 14-year history. Through its past three full seasons, Hot in Cleveland has averaged three million total viewers, according to Nielsen. Production on the show's fourth season starts August 2012. CTD acquired distribution rights to the show last fall.

Hot in Cleveland stars Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. The show is executive produced by Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills Productions. Suzanne Martin is executive producer, showrunner and writer. Lynda Obst also serves as an executive producer, while Larry W. Jones and Keith Cox are executive producers for TV Land. Hot in Cleveland is currently seen around the world in over 165 countries.

CTD's deal to distribute Hot in Cleveland was brokered by Scott Koondel, CBS Corp.'s senior vice president of corporate licensing and distribution, CBS Corp., and CTD's president of distribution and Eddie Dalva, executive vice president of content and program enterprises for Viacom Entertainment and Music Groups.