TNT Assumes ABC’s Alias

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Turner Network Television has acquired ABC's Alias from Buena Vista Television for fall 2005.

TNT is paying $200,000-plus per episode for the rights to the show, sources confirmed.

The network plans to strip the off-ABC spy thriller, but scheduling has not yet been decided. Buena Vista still holds the rights to sell the show in weekend broadcast syndication for fall 2005, but no deal has been made yet.

Season-to-date, Alias is second in its Sunday 9 p.m. time period to NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent with a 3.4 rating/8 share. In its third season, Alias is down 9% in viewers and down 15% in adults 18-49, but it's been performing better with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as a lead-in and it appeals to young adults. TNT would likely target it for its "prime time in daytime" block that also includes Law & Order, Angel, The Pretender, Charmed, and ER.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

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.