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Twentieth Television and Tribune Broadcasting
Close Off-Net Syndication Agreement on Hit Sitcom "Family
Guy"
Seth MacFarlane's Emmy Award Series to Premiere on Tribune
Stations in Fall 2007
LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO, July 6,
2006 -- Twentieth Television has
cleared Seth MacFarlane’s
hit Emmy Award-winning animated sitcom "Family Guy" on
the Tribune Broadcasting station group for a fall 2007
launch in off-net syndication. The announcement was jointly
made today by Bob Cook, president and COO of Twentieth
Television; and John Reardon, president of Tribune Broadcasting,
a division of Tribune Company.
Under terms of the agreement, the series
about the Griffin family (father Peter, wife Lois, their
kids and a very brainy dog) that pokes fun at everyday
middle-class life will premiere in 20 major markets, representing
37.8% of the United States. Tribune stations set to premiere
"Family Guy" in
off-net include WPIX/New York, KTLA/Los Angeles, WGN/Chicago,
WPHL/Philadelphia, WLVI/Boston, KDAF/Dallas, WDCW/Washington,
KHCW/Houston, KCPQ-KTWB/Seattle, WBZL/Miami, KWGN/Denver,
KTXL/Sacramento, KPLR/St. Louis, KWBP/Portland, WXIN-WTTV/Indianapolis,
KSWB/San Diego, WTIC-WTXX/Hartford, WXMI/Grand Rapids, WPMT/Harrisburg
and WGNO-WNOL/New Orleans.
Regarding the announcement, Cook stated,
"We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement
on ‘Family
Guy’ with Tribune Broadcasting. From the genius of
Seth MacFarlane, ‘Family Guy’ is a pop culture
phenomenon that has accomplished extraordinary popularity.
We expect this success to continue during its off-net window
for the Tribune station group."
"We’re always looking to acquire engaging, high-quality
programs to refresh our local lineups," added Tribune’s
Reardon. " ‘Family Guy’ fits that description
and we look forward to the show having a positive impact
on ratings and revenues across our group."
Since its debut in 1999, the Emmy Award-winning
series has attracted an impressively loyal following of
devoted fans and has sold nine million combined DVD units,
outperforming "The
Simpsons," "South Park," "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "Everybody
Loves Raymond." The show’s success on DVD, combined
with the ratings records it set on the Cartoon Network’s
Adult Swim block, prompted FOX to bring it back for a fifth
season, making "Family Guy" the only series ever
to return to television after being cancelled.
A multiplatform success, more than 500 "Family
Guy" merchandise
items have been licensed in over 10,000 consumer outlets,
including such major retailers as Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart.
On the
web, "Family Guy" was 2005’s third most
searched television program of the year on Yahoo! and currently
is the number one most downloaded cell phone television property,
with 2.3 million ring tones, voice tones, wallpaper, ring
backs and games downloaded to date. On stage, the hit "Family
Guy Live!" events have sold out numerous performances
in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
"Family Guy’s" current season,
its fifth, continues with more distinctively twisted and
irreverently outrageous trials and tribulations of Peter
Griffin (MacFarlane) and his not-quite-so-average family.
Immersed in television’s
most clever storylines and scripts, Lois (Alex Borstein)
is Peter’s loving wife, who struggles to maintain a
modicum of normalcy in their home life. Then there are their
kids: angst-ridden, 16-year-old Meg (Mila Kunis), who only
really wants to get noticed; 13-year-old Chris (Seth Green),
a sweet-natured slacker; and 1-year-old Stewie (MacFarlane),
a diabolically clever baby who’s already bent on world
domination. Rounding out the Griffin household is Brian,
the family dog who has a penchant for dry martinis and Shakespearean
sonnets.
In addition to the regular cast, "Family Guy"
has featured a diverse range of guest voice appearances,
including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lee Majors, Will Ferrell,
Jimmy Kimmel, Drew Barrymore, Kiefer Sutherland, the legendary
rock group KISS, James Woods, Phyllis Diller, Robert Downey,
Jr., Carol Channing, and New England Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady, among others.
The program won an Emmy Award for Outstanding
Voice-Over Performance in 2000, and in 2002 won an Emmy
for Outstanding Music and Lyrics. "Family Guy" has
been nominated for Outstanding Animated Program in 2000
and 2005.
"Family Guy" is a 20th Century
Fox Television production. MacFarlane is creator/executive
producer and David Goodman is executive producer and show
runner. Chris Sheridan also serves as executive producer.
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TRIBUNE (NYSE:TRB) is one of the
country’s top media
companies, operating businesses in publishing and broadcasting.
It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households and is
the only media organization with newspapers, television stations
and websites in the nation’s top three markets. In
publishing, Tribune operates 11 leading daily newspapers
including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday,
plus a wide range of targeted publications. The company’s
broadcasting group operates 26 television stations, Superstation
WGN on national cable, Chicago’s WGN-AM and the Chicago
Cubs baseball team. Popular news and information websites
complement Tribune’s print and broadcast properties
and extend the company’s nationwide audience.
A leader in the U.S. program
production and distribution arena, Twentieth Television
is a unit of Fox Television and headed by Fox Television
Stations’ chairman Roger Ailes
while CEO Jack Abernethy oversees day-to-day operations.
Twentieth Television provides a wide array of first-run and
off-network programming, as well as feature film packages,
to the syndication and cable marketplaces. First-run programs
distributed by Twentieth Television include “Geraldo
at Large,” the news strip hosted by Geraldo Rivera,
and the popular court shows “Divorce Court” and “Judge
Alex,” the number one new first-run program of the
2005-06 season. In fall 2006, the company will launch the
primetime drama strips “Desire” and “Fashion
House” on the new general entertainment broadcast television
network MyNetworkTV. Furthermore, the company is set to launch
the new first-run syndicated court show “Cristina’s
Court,” hosted by Cristina
Perez, in fall 2006. Twentieth Television also oversees the
domestic sales of one of the most extensive libraries of
off-net programming in the entertainment industry. Last fall,
the company launched the groundbreaking drama “24,” starring
Kiefer Sutherland, and The Peabody Award-winning sitcom “The
Bernie Mac Show” in off-net syndication. Twentieth
Television sells national advertising units retained by the
company in off-network, theatrical and first-run programming,
as well as oversees advertising sales for DIRECTV.
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