CBS Television Distribution has sold TV Land's Hot in
Cleveland to TV stations covering more than 65% of the country, said Joe DiSalvo,
CTD's president of sales, on Wednesday.
Stations picking up the show include CBS' WLNY New York,
KCAL Los Angeles, WPSG Philadelphia, KTXA Dallas-Fort Worth and KBCW San
Francisco, as well as Weigel Broadcasting's WCIU, Sunbeam Television's WLVI
Boston, Gannett's WATL Atlanta and Belo's KHOU Houston. Stations from the
Sinclair, LIN, Cox and Meredith broadcast groups also have bought the show.
Those sales encompass nine of the top 10 broadcast markets
and 18 of the top 20 for a 2014 launch. The sale of Hot in Cleveland to
CBS-owned stations in top markets now marks the third off-net sitcom buy for
those stations, afterthe group bought Warner Bros.' 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Mollylast month. CBS' acquisition of the formerly independently-owned WLNY in
December has added another competitive sitcom buyer in big markets, along with
Tribune, Fox, and Weigel in Chicago.
"Stations have enthusiastically embraced Hot in
Cleveland and see huge potential for this sitcom in their lineups,"
DiSalvo said. "Hot in Cleveland has been a breakout hit for TV Land
and is a perfect fit for the broad audience of broadcast syndication."
Debuting in June 2010, Hot in Cleveland's premiere
episode was the highest-rated telecast in TV Land's 14-year history. Through
its past three full seasons, Hot in Cleveland has averaged three million
total viewers, according to Nielsen. Production on the show's fourth season
starts August 2012. CTD acquired distribution rights to the show last fall.
Hot in Cleveland stars Betty White, Valerie
Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. The show is executive produced by
Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills Productions. Suzanne Martin is
executive producer, showrunner and writer. Lynda Obst also serves as an
executive producer, while Larry W. Jones and Keith Cox are executive producers
for TV Land. Hot in Cleveland is currently seen around the world in over
165 countries.
CTD's deal to distribute Hot in Cleveland was brokered by Scott Koondel, CBS Corp.'s senior vice president of corporate licensing and distribution, CBS Corp., and CTD's president of distribution and Eddie Dalva, executive vice president of content and program enterprises for Viacom Entertainment and Music Groups.
