OK! TV, a new syndicated entertainment magazine
that's being spun off from OK! Magazine, is now a firm go for this fall,
with clearances secured in the country's top three markets.
OK! TV now joins
Sony Pictures Television's Queen Latifah, Warner Bros.' Bethenny,
CBS Television Distribution's Arsenio Hall and The Test, and
MGM's Paternity Court among the new syndicated shows that will premiere
in September.
WLNY New York, KCAL Los Angeles and WCIU/WCUU Chicago all
have picked up the half-hour magazine. Those three join stations in other
broadcast groups, including Journal, Media General, Gray Television, Mission
Broadcasting and New Age Media, among others.
Trifecta Entertainment is distributing the show, while
American Media, publisher of OK! Magazine and other titles, and
Unconventional Partners, part of Young & Rubicam's Spark Plug program, are
producing.
Weigel Broadcasting has picked up the show to air initially
in daytime on WCUU Chicago.
"There's value in the ancillary promotion of American
Media's brands that can bring value to the television station and I like
working with independent producers," says Neal Sabin, president of content
and networks for Weigel Broadcasting.
OK! TV also has
been cleared at 7 p.m. on Journal's ABC affiliate, KTNV Las Vegas.
"OK! TV gives
us a true multiplatform media experience with content opportunities across
mobile, digital and broadcast. We look forward to giving our viewers, along
with our advertisers, a new approach to entertainment and lifestyle news,"
said Jim Prather, executive VP of television and radio operations for Journal
Broadcast Group, and general manager of KNTV, in a statement.
Prior to OK! TV's launch, Journal plans to air OK! TV-branded entertainment segments on
its multi-market lifestyle show, The Morning Blend.
Announcements about the show's talent and production teams
are coming later, according to senior executive producer Mark Berryhill, with
staff based in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Nashville, where American
Media's Country Weekly is based.
"The audience will get great access to big
entertainment events and behind-the-scenes stories direct from the OK! TV
newsroom," said Berryhill in a statement. "By working with our
station partners to launch OK! TV content prior to the series, will give
the OK! TV brand an extra promotional push."
IMG's Babette Perry, Unconventional Partners' TV agent, is representing
the project.
