New York -- Pax TV will time-shift NBC's revival of
game show Twenty-One, airing it Saturday nights starting in April, officials said
last Wednesday.
The deal paves the way for more cooperative programming
ventures between NBC and Pax TV, officials said.
Twenty-One,hosted by Maury Povich, airs Monday
nights at 9 p.m. on NBC. After that run, each week's episode will then air Saturdays
at 9 p.m. on Pax TV.
"Adding Twenty-One to Pax TV's regular
Saturday primetime lineup is the beginning of a series of programming innovations sparked
by our relationship with NBC," Paxson Communications Corp. president Jeff Sagansky
said in a prepared statement.
"During the February sweep, we doubled the time-period
ratings of our adult audience when we scheduled two movies on Pax that had previously
aired on NBC -- Touch of Hope and The Promise," he added."Similarly,
we expect the time-shifted run of NBC's heavily promoted Twenty-One to
positively impact our ratings."
NBC previously acquired 32 percent of Paxson for about $415
million, with the idea that Paxson would provide the "Big Three" broadcaster
with a second national distribution outlet for its programming through its numerous TV
stations.
