Yahoo News Sony Pictures Television To Distribute ‘People’ TV Show In National Syndication
People (the TV Show!) is eying an expansion. Sony Pictures Television has partnered with Meredith Corp for the nationwide distribution of the new daily half-hour newsmagazine program inspired by the People brand, which features a combination of celebrity, entertainment and human-interest stories.
Following Meredith Corp.’s $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc., the company in 2019 announced a daily syndicated show built around one of the newly bought magazine titles, People, to launch in the fall of 2020 on the 16 local TV stations owned by Meredith, which reach 11% of the country and cover markets like Atlanta, Phoenix; St. Louis; Portland, OR; and Nashville. The plan was for the weeknight program to seek additional clearances on stations beyond Meredith’s footprint, depending on the initial performance of the show.
People (the TV Show!) debuted September 14, one of only three new syndicated entries this fall alongside The Drew Barrymore Show and Law & Crime Daily. In its markets, People has performed generally better than the other two freshmen and some of the established entertainment newsmagazines.
Rob Silverstein, formerly of Access Hollywood, is People’s executive producer. Meredith also brought on former CBS executive Lee Villas to facilitate distribution.
“We are thrilled with the early success of People (the TV Show!) in Meredith’s markets and are excited to team with SPT to offer the show to other station groups for fall 2022,” said Patrick McCreery, President, Meredith Local Media Group.
Added John Weiser, President, First Run Television, SPT, “Rather than presenting a pilot, we’re strategically taking the risk out of first run television by offering stations a show that has already been on-air tested and is delivering great ratings.”
People (The TV Show!) airs Monday-Friday in all 12 Meredith markets including Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis, Portland, Nashville, Kansas City, Hartford-New Haven, Greenville-Spartanburg, Las Vegas, Mobile-Pensacola, Flint-Saginaw, and Springfield-Holyoke, MA. The show is hosted by Kay Adams and Lawrence K. Jackson with correspondents Jeremy Parsons and Sandra Vergara and special contributors Nancy O’Dell and Gretchen Carlson.
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