Broadcasting & Cable
While Oprah‘s future was again called into question Thursday, Dr. Phil isnt going anywhere.
CBS Television Distribution has a definitive answer to one of syndications most important questions: It has renewed Dr. Phil through the 2013-14 season in 70% of the country, on stations from the CBS, Gannett, Belo, LIN Television, Cox and Media General groups.
Whether CTD would be able to bring back the show when its current contract expires in 2011 had been an open question in the industry due to the shows high license fees and ratings challenges. In addition, complaints about the perceived negative bent of Dr. Phil’s content persisted in recent months, causing some observers to question whether the show would be renewed. But CTD executives say they were able to devise some creative deal-making to boost the appeal of bringing back the show for all involved, including host and executive producer Dr. Phil McGraw.
“All of these stations really want us to understand their business and be sympathetic to their needs,” says John Nogawski, CTDs president. “We structured the license fees so that they made more sense to [the stations] than if they didnt do the deal.” More…