'Ellen' Cleared in 99% of U.S. for 2011
Warner Bros. Domestic
Television Distribution (WBDTD) has cleared syndication standout The Ellen DeGeneres Show on stations
covering 99% of the country for 2011-2012, and has renewed it in over 85% of
the country for 2012-2013.
ABC, CBS and NBC
affiliates make up 95% of the 2011 clearances.
In addition to
renewing Ellen with NBC Local Media's
10 owned stations, WBDTD has sold the show to Hearst Television (13 stations),
Gannett (12) and select local outlets belonging to Scripps, Belo, Local TV,
Media General, Raycom and Cox, among other groups.
WBDTD President Ken Werner said he was "extremely gratified" by
stations' enthusiasm for Ellen.
"Stations and viewers alike have identified ‘Ellen' as a unique and compelling
program that is poised to become the dominant early fringe talk franchise for
women for years to come," he said.
Ellen has been cleared in early fringe time periods for
2011-2012 in 18 of the top 20 markets and 88 of the top 100.
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Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.