Deal or No Deal Heading to Syndication
NBC Universal, Endemol USA Half-Hour Strip to Also Be Hosted by Mandel
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/9/2007 1:47:00 PM
As expected, NBC Universal and Endemol USA are prepping a syndicated version of NBC game show Deal or No Deal for fall 2008.
Howie Mandel will host the Monday-Friday half-hour strip, as well as continuing to front the primetime version, NBCU said.
Deal or No Deal is from Endemol (Big Brother, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Fear Factor) and was adapted from a show that debuted in Holland in 2002.
The game show has been picked up by NBCU stations in top markets including the top three -- New York (WNBC-TV), Los Angeles (KNBC-TV) and Chicago (WMAQ-TV) -- as well as its WCAU-TV Philadelphia and KNTV-TV San Francisco.
NBCU also said it has deals with stations owned by CBS, Allbritton Communications, Scripps and Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Deal or No Deal has already been getting some promotion on non-NBC affiliates via a branded scratch-off lottery game.
The show, which debuted in 2005 on the network, has been a solid performer. With its play-at-home element, it has also been the biggest draw to NBC’s Web site, representing almost 20% of traffic, according to the network.
