WPIX New York Nabs 'Seinfeld'

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Tribune-owned WPIX New York has picked up Sony's off-net sitcom Seinfeld, taking the show from Fox-owned WNYW. The classic show about nothing moves to PIX in March 2011, which is when Fox's deal for the show expires.

WPIX's deal runs for 3 ½ years, keeping the show on a broadcast station in New York through 2014. It was sold for cash - although far less cash than Fox was paying - and a 5 ½ local, 1 ½ national barter advertising split.

In April, Seinfeld tied Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men as late fringe's highest-rated show among adults 25-54, the demographic that TV stations most care about, at a 1.6. NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno came in second at a 1.5.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.