SPT to Distribute 'People (The TV Show!) in National Syndication
Show debuted in September on Meredith-owned stations in 12 markets
![Kay Adams, Lawrence K. Adams host Meredith's 'People (the TV Show!)' along with correspondents Jeremy Parsons and Sandra Vergara.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5Rk2CiQuneQpwdeVWoA8tH-320-80.jpg)
Sony Pictures Television will distribute Meredith’s People (The TV Show!) in national syndication, the partners said Wednesday.
The entertainment magazine debuted Sept. 14 on Meredith-owned stations in 12 local markets, including Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis, Portland, Nashville, Kansas City, Hartford-New Haven, Greenville-Spartanburg, Las Vegas, Mobile-Pensacola, Flint-Saginaw, and Springfield-Holyoke, Mass. With this move, Meredith expects to significantly increase the show's reach.
Meredith acquired People Magazine in January 2018, along with the rest of Time Inc.'s assets in a $2.8 billion deal.
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Kay Adams and Lawrence K. Jackson host along with correspondents Jeremy Parsons and Sandra Vergara and special contributors Nancy O’Dell and Gretchen Carlson. The magazine strip is executive produced by Rob Silverstein, formerly of Access Hollywood. Meredith also brought on former CBS executive Lee Villas to facilitate distribution.
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“We are thrilled with the early success of People (the TV Show!) in Meredith’s markets and are excited to team with SPT to offer the show to other station groups for fall 2022,” said Patrick McCreery, President, Meredith Local Media Group, in a statement.
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“SPT is focused on bringing the highest quality brands and content to television syndication. People has maintained the largest audience of any magazine brand in America, reaching close to 100 million consumers, and attracts blue-chip advertisers at premium rates,” said John Weiser, president, First-Run Television, SPT, in a statement. “Rather than presenting a pilot, we’re strategically taking the risk out of first-run television by offering stations a show that has already been on-air tested and is delivering great ratings. We are proud to partner with Meredith broadcasting in representing this well established first-class brand,”
Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.