INSP Gets Cable Rights to 'The Virginian'

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

INSP (the Insptiration Networks) has struck a deal with NBCU for the exclusive cable rights to vintage TV Western, The Virginian, as the show turns 50.

The series, which aired on Wednesday nights for almost a decade on NBC -- it launched in September 1962 -- will join INSP's "Saddle Up Saturday" Western block as well as getting Monday-Friday runs.

"I am thrilled that The Virginian is coming back to television," said series star James Drury in a statement.  "[T]here's no better place to call home than INSP.  They have brought back so many of the shows that America still loves [Bonanza, Dr. Quinn, The Big Valley] and The Virginian is sure to fit right in with their western lineup."

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.