'American Dad' gets syndication pact

[Brian Damage]

Twentieth TV has sealed a cash-plus-barter deal with Tribune and Fox stations for the second cycle off-net run of "Family Guy."The fact that "Family Guy's" renewal included a cash license fee was heralded by Twentieth as further proof that both stations and the syndication world are starting to see an economic recovery.
Concurrently, Twentieth has also cleared "American Dad," also from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, in 40% of the country.

Second-cycle deal for "Family Guy" runs from 2011 through the 2014-2015 TV season.

Twentieth sales exec VP Paul Franklin said the distributor decided to pursue "Family Guy's" second cycle renewal now because of an improvement they're seeing in the economy.

There's a positive uptick in the marketplace," he said. "Stations are hetting healthier around the country. The previous six sitcoms that came into the marketplace all went with a barter-only model. But 'Family Guy' has been very successful for TV stations, and given these kind of ratings, stations are willing to pay for it."

Beyond the cash deal, Twentieth will get 1 1/2 minutes of ad time on "Family Guy," while stations will keep 5 1/2 minutes -- similar to what they now get on the show.

Stations renewing the laffer include Tribune's WPIX-TV New York, KTLA-TV Los Angeles and WGN-TV Chicago (which shares a window with Weigel's indie WCIU-TV).

Tribune outlets in Washington, Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Miami, Sacramento, Portland, Indianapolis, San Diego, Hartford and New Orleans also once again picked the show up, while Fox stations in Phoenix, Minneapolis and Orlando also renewed, as did Turner's Atlanta outlet.

The same stations picked up "American Dad" (save Phoenix, where the Belo outlets secured the run).

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1