ABC Reverses TV Pattern and Schedules Cable Rerun
By BILL CARTER
Aug 7
LOS ANGELES (New York Times) -- ABC announced yesterday that starting next week, it would begin broadcasting a rerun of the USA Network show, "Monk," four days after the episode first appeared on USA. The deal reverses the usual order of television programming, where shows play first on a network and then on cable.
"Monk," a comedy-detective show starring Tony Shaloub, has been well received critically and has scored the highest ratings of any prime-time entertainment series on cable this summer.
ABC noticed. The network, which originally developed the show, exercised an option it retained in the production contract to gain access to the first rerun of the show. "Monk" is produced by Touchstone Television, the production unit of the Walt Disney Company, ABC's parent.
ABC has committed to broadcast four weeks of reruns of "Monk" on Tuesday night at 9. It will play on USA the previous Friday at 10 p.m.
Both sides described the price that ABC will pay for the shows as extremely modest. USA will have to forgo its Monday night repeat of the series.
It has become common for shows that run first on a broadcast network to be repeated on a cable channel. USA itself replays all three "Law and Order" series on NBC.
But it is rare that a show will run first on cable and then on a network, though it has happened. About a decade ago, Fox ran repeats of two pay-cable series "It's Garry Shandling's Show" and "Dream On," and some children's programs on Nickelodeon are now repeated on CBS.
Susan Lyne, the president of ABC Entertainment, said, "In August when the networks are filled with reality shows and repeats, it seemed like an interesting experiment to pick up a quality dramatic series and expose it to a lot of people who maybe haven't seen it." She added that if the experiment works, ABC could broadcast more episodes of "Monk."
The show has been attracting about 4.6 million viewers a week on USA, about double the network's average audience. On ABC, "Monk" will replace reruns of "NYPD Blue."
Doug Herzog, the president of USA Network, said USA hoped to benefit from "the extra exposure on ABC." He said the development was another indication that the usual patterns of TV programming are changing.
"Everybody from every type of network is going to look at things in ways they haven't before," Mr. Herzog said.
By BILL CARTER
Aug 7
LOS ANGELES (New York Times) -- ABC announced yesterday that starting next week, it would begin broadcasting a rerun of the USA Network show, "Monk," four days after the episode first appeared on USA. The deal reverses the usual order of television programming, where shows play first on a network and then on cable.
"Monk," a comedy-detective show starring Tony Shaloub, has been well received critically and has scored the highest ratings of any prime-time entertainment series on cable this summer.
ABC noticed. The network, which originally developed the show, exercised an option it retained in the production contract to gain access to the first rerun of the show. "Monk" is produced by Touchstone Television, the production unit of the Walt Disney Company, ABC's parent.
ABC has committed to broadcast four weeks of reruns of "Monk" on Tuesday night at 9. It will play on USA the previous Friday at 10 p.m.
Both sides described the price that ABC will pay for the shows as extremely modest. USA will have to forgo its Monday night repeat of the series.
It has become common for shows that run first on a broadcast network to be repeated on a cable channel. USA itself replays all three "Law and Order" series on NBC.
But it is rare that a show will run first on cable and then on a network, though it has happened. About a decade ago, Fox ran repeats of two pay-cable series "It's Garry Shandling's Show" and "Dream On," and some children's programs on Nickelodeon are now repeated on CBS.
Susan Lyne, the president of ABC Entertainment, said, "In August when the networks are filled with reality shows and repeats, it seemed like an interesting experiment to pick up a quality dramatic series and expose it to a lot of people who maybe haven't seen it." She added that if the experiment works, ABC could broadcast more episodes of "Monk."
The show has been attracting about 4.6 million viewers a week on USA, about double the network's average audience. On ABC, "Monk" will replace reruns of "NYPD Blue."
Doug Herzog, the president of USA Network, said USA hoped to benefit from "the extra exposure on ABC." He said the development was another indication that the usual patterns of TV programming are changing.
"Everybody from every type of network is going to look at things in ways they haven't before," Mr. Herzog said.