Twentieth Television has cleared Dish Nation, which ran as a test last summer on seven Fox stations, in 55% of the country, Twentieth said Monday. The show will premiere this fall.
Besides the Fox-owned stations, Twentieth also has cleared the show on stations in the Tribune, LIN, Local TV and Cox stations, said Paul Franklin, Twentieth's executive VP and general manager of broadcast sales and Frank Cicha, senior VP of programming for the Fox Television Stations. Dish Nation also has been sold in nine of the top-ten markets.
"This summer, Twentieth Television and the Fox Television Stations set out to present viewers a fresh, funny and modern take on the entertainment news genre. As exemplified by the positive viewer reaction, laugh-out-loud segments, and likeable radio personalities, we have succeeded," said Franklin in a statement. "Serving as the perfect complement to magazine programs, especially TMZ, and off-network sitcoms, we are thrilled to launch Dish Nation nationwide later this year."
Dish Nation is a half-hour strip featuring drive-time radio deejays riffing on the events of the day. During last summer's six-week test, participating radio shows included New York's The Big Show with Scott & Todd on WPLJ, featuring Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill; Atlanta's Rickey Smiley Morning Show, featuring Smiley, Ebondy Steele, Gary T and HeadKrack, and heard locally on WHAT; and Detroit's Blaine & Allyson on WDVD, featuring Blaine Fowler and Allyson Martinek. More radio teams will be announced before the show's September premiere.
Dish Nation is produced by the Emmy-award winning Studio City and distributed by Twentieth Television.
