Anderson Cooper has been a hot item on the syndication market. With a flurry of deal-making in December, the Warner Bros. show “Anderson” is set to close out the year with commitments from at least 80 stations.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. doubled the amount of cleared stations in the past 10 days, making “Anderson” a definite Go and possibly signaling the first syndication hit in the post-Oprah landscape.
Warner Bros. announced in September that they had signed a deal with Cooper to produce a one-hour daytime strip that would debut in Fall 2011. In making the announcement, Warner Bros. was confident that they had the right talent to capitalize on the programming hole left by Oprah. “Fall ’11 begins a transition period when long established franchises are leaving the air and making way for a new generation of shows,” Ken Werner, President of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, said in making the announcement. “Anderson Cooper is one of the most distinctive voices of the next generation of television. His popularity and skills uniquely position him to be the next big syndication franchise.”
“Anderson” has recently signed agreements with such stations as Atlanta’s WXIA, San Francisco’s KTVU, Detroit’s WDIV, Phoenix’s KPHO, Pittsburgh’s WPXI, Tampa’s WFTS, Denver’s KTVD/KUSA, Cleveland’s WOIO, and St. Louis’ KDNL, according to The Hollywood Reporter.