Nick at Nite acquires "Friends" for September 2011

[TV Guy]

But they won't air it for another six years.

Friends of 'Friends'
Nick gets night rights; TBS run extended

By JOHN DEMPSEY, Variety

NEW YORK -- Warner Bros. Domestic Cable has sold "Friends" to Nick at Nite in a shared window with TBS beginning in the fall of 2011, a deal that will harvest $200 million in license fees and advertising.
The parties declined to discuss deal points, but Nick at Nite will pay about $500,000 an episode for the right to carry the 236 half-hours of "Friends" post-6 p.m. for a six-year term through the fall of 2017. Nick at Nite will also allow Warner Bros. to carve out 30-second spots from the half-hour cablecasts; Warners will pocket all of these ad revenues.

By contrast, TBS' contract is a continuation of its ongoing deal for "Friends," which kicked off in the fall of 2001. The network, a sibling of Warner Bros. Domestic Cable, has renewed "Friends" for the same six-year period as Nick at Nite (September 2011 to September 2017) but will pay only $275,000 an episode because Warners will restrict its runs to pre-6 p.m. (except for the first year, when TBS can play the half-hours through 7 p.m.). The three 30-second spots that Warners holds back in each half-hour of "Friends" on TBS will cease on Sept. 4, 2011; TBS will keep all of the advertising time beyond that date.

One of the reasons that a sitcom like "Friends," which NBC canceled after the 2003-04 season, is still chalking up big bucks in pre-sales through 2017 is that the broadcast networks have failed to come with any blockbuster sitcoms in the past five years.

Worried that the drought in hit comedies could continue, cable networks and TV stations are renewing high-visibility shows like "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Friends" and "Seinfeld" well into the future. Twentieth hasn't made "The Simpsons" available to cable networks yet because the show is still exclusive to TV stations in off-network syndication.

Right now, TBS is sharing "Friends" with TV stations throughout the country in rerun syndication. Warners has renewed "Friends" in syndication through December 2013, and since the series is still finding an audience, the studio could very well bring the sitcom back later in the decade for a third cycle.

In syndication alone, "Friends" has harvested $4 million an episode in cash license fees, for a total of $944 million. When advertising revenues from the syndication barter spots get added in, the revenues balloon to well over a billion dollars.

Nick at Nite is counting on "Friends" to play directly to the 18-to-49 year olds it targets in its programming and marketing.

[Miss Golden]

I guess by 2011 Nick at Nite will be into comedies around 1998-present.

[musicradio77]

Is it true that "Friends" is coming to Nick at Nite in the next 6 years? I don't see it.

[barwars]

Originally Posted by musicradio77

Is it true that "Friends" is coming to Nick at Nite in the next 6 years? I don't see it.

You're insane.

[Ohio8]

You think it's been edited for current syndication? Wait'll 2011! Nick at Night and TVLand are known for cutting out a lot of good stuff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Father Mulcahey: "So young." Hawkeye: "The younger they get, the older I get."

[savy333]

I love Friends but... Nick at Night should be reserved for classic shows pre 1980, in my opinion. I Love Lucy, Three's Company, The Jeffersons, etc. Why should they air Friends when we can already watch the exact same episodes on TBS that day? I think the classic shows that hardly air at all should not get the boot to air more Friends episodes.

And, like I said, I love Friends!!! I have all the DVDs, etc. But it should not be put on Nick at Night for at least a few decades or so.

[Dr. John Becker]

Originally Posted by Ohio8

You think it's been edited for current syndication? Wait'll 2011! Nick at Night and TVLand are known for cutting out a lot of good stuff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Father Mulcahey: "So young." Hawkeye: "The younger they get, the older I get."

I'll have all the DVDs by then, so I don't need N@Ns airings.

[slackermonkey]

...Well, that was fast.

[McFly121]

Exactly why I'm taping Wings and Night Court right now. Warner will probly never do any more NC discs, and Paramount with Wings....yeah right. Plus Friends discs are now, and by that point, will be probly the biggest sellers of all time. Nick is foolish to think anyone will watch by that point. Only time I watch Friends on tv is if I'm at someone else's house. I guess they're banking on the teens who will have never heard of it or something. Be lucky if you even see an early 90s show on Nick at Nite in 2011.

[kramer]

Here is my favorite part from that story:

"One of the reasons that a sitcom like "Friends," which NBC canceled after the 2003-04 season...."

Yes NBC canceled Friends more like offered 3 million dollars to each actor and begged and pleaded for another season.

[Dr. Thong]

Only five more years and I can watch Friends reruns every night!!!

Hey, wait a minute!!!

Uh, what's the big deal here???

[Brian Damage]

*Yawn*

[FriendsFanForever]

Originally Posted by kramer

Here is my favorite part from that story:

"One of the reasons that a sitcom like "Friends," which NBC canceled after the 2003-04 season...."

Yes NBC canceled Friends more like offered 3 million dollars to each actor and begged and pleaded for another season.

lol. I immeaditley chided the poorly-worded report myself.

[Pavan]

Nickelodeon Adds Friends and Yes, Dear to Nick At Nite’s Powerhouse Roster of Modern Comedies

236 Episodes of Friends Begin Rolling Out this September; Yes, Dear, Starring Nick Alum Mike O’Malley, Joins Line-Up in 2012


NEW YORK, March 10, 2011 -- Nickelodeon‘s Nick at Nite line-up of modern comedies expands to include the complete libraries of beloved series Friends and Yes, Dear. The 236-episode catalogue of Friends, one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, will join Nick at Nite this September. Yes, Dear, the 122-episode family comedy that follows two couples with dramatically different parenting styles, stars Mike O’Malley (Glee, GUTS) and bows in 2012.

“Adding two great comedies like Friends and Yes, Dear to Nick at Nite fortifies our proven roster of current and relevant programming,” said Pete Danielsen, Executive Vice President, Programming, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. ”Friends brings us one of the most celebrated and iconic sitcoms in TV history while Yes, Dear is the quintessential modern-day sitcom that offers something for every member of the family.”

Friends, an ensemble comedy that made Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow household names, follows six friends as they navigate their way through life in New York City and adulthood as they inch toward their thirties. Often hilarious and frequently moving, the series, which ran for 10 seasons on NBC (from 1994 to 2004), addresses universal themes like falling in – or out of – love, launching a career and dealing with (as well as becoming) parents. The critically acclaimed series was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and received six Primetime Emmy Awards.

Originally airing from 2000-06 on CBS, Yes, Dear follows two young couples and their wildly divergent parenting styles. First-time parents Greg and Kim Warner aspire to be the model of parenting. Greg (Anthony Clark) is a successful movie studio executive who must also keep Kim (Jean Louisa Kelly) – a neurotic, stay-at-home mother – calm as she strives to be the perfect mother and wife. Meanwhile, Kim’s sister, Christine Hughes (Liza Snyder), and her ambition-challenged husband, Jimmy (O’Malley), are down-to-earth parents living in Kim and Greg’s guest house, continually reminding them that life will never be perfect. The series, distributed by Twentieth Television, was created by Gregory Thomas Garcia and Alan Kirschenbaum.

Nick at Nite is Nickelodeon’s nighttime programming block that features popular modern-day family comedies, including My Wife and Kids, Everybody Hates Chris, George Lopez, The Nanny, Full House, Family Matters and the Emmy Award-winning series Home Improvement. Year to date, Nick at Nite ranks as the number-one cable network in total day among women 18-49, averaging a 0.8/426,000 and 1.6 million total viewers (Source: Nielsen Media Research, Live + 7 Day data thru 2/6/11, Live + Same Day data thru 2/20/11, Mon-Sun 6a-6a, all cable).