NBC Offers Affiliates American Gladiators

Stations Can Replay First Three Episodes in Non-Primetime Slots During Three Weekends

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/8/2008 5:43:00 PM

NBC is offering its owned-and-operated and affiliated stations a chance to rerun the first three episodes of American Gladiators.

The network will give affiliates the chance to replay the episodes in a non-primetime slot the weekends of Jan. 19-20, Jan. 26-27 and Feb. 2-3.

The decision to offer the episodes came from an affiliate-board meeting, with the goal of increasing the audience sampling of the new series.

“We’re extremely excited by the response to American Gladiators,” said John Wallace, president of NBC Local Media Division, in a statement. “By adding the show to our weekend-afternoon lineup, we can expose the program to a new audience and benefit from the local ad opportunities. It’s a win-win for all involved.”

American Gladiators debuted Sunday with a 4.4 rating/11 share in they key 18-49 demo, and it held its own against the BCS Championship Game Monday night during its regular time slot.

“This unique partnership with our owned and affiliated stations gives us a great post-premiere window to increase the sampling for this tremendous new hit series,” NBC entertainment co-president Ben Silverman said in a statement. “Plus, it may often air in the same time period as the syndicated series did when it became a smash series years ago.”