Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Licenses Off-Network Broadcast Rights For The Closer to the Fox Television Stations

Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has sold the weekend broadcast rights to the first four seasons of the drama series The Closer to the Fox Television Stations for premiere in fall 2010, announced Ken Werner, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, and Frank Cicha, Senior Vice President, Programming, Fox Television Stations. The agreement includes the Fox owned-and-operated stations in 16 markets – such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Werner commented, “’The Closer’ is the number one original series on ad-supported cable ever. It is a tremendous show with broad audience appeal that promises to be an incredibly strong performer for stations on the weekends.”

The Closer is the highest-rated series in the history of advertiser-supported cable television, ranking #1 among Households, Total Viewers, Adults 25–54 and Women 25–54. The show has received critical acclaim and awards recognition, including a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Television Series for star Kyra Sedgwick.

Cicha added, “Our stations have benefitted from running high-profile hours in blocks across key time periods – adding ’The Closer’ to our lineups will only further this success.”

Presented on TNT weekly on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT), The Closer will return in early 2009 with five original episodes. The program stars Kyra Sedgwick as CIA-trained Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a former Atlanta detective brought to Los Angeles to head a special LAPD unit charged with cracking sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Sedgwick is joined by an acclaimed ensemble cast: Jon Tenney, J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, Robert Gossett, G.W. Bailey, Tony Denison, Raymond Cruz, Michael Paul Chan and Gina Ravera.

From The Shephard/Robin Company in association with Warner Bros. Television, The Closer was created by James Duff and is executive produced by Greer Shephard, Michael M. Robin and Duff, and co-executive produced by Sedgwick.

About Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) is one of the leading suppliers of entertainment programming to the domestic television marketplace, distributing first-run syndicated series, off-network television programs and theatrical motion pictures to local broadcast television stations, as well as to pay, cable, satellite and broadcast networks throughout the U.S. WBDTD handles the domestic distribution of television series produced by Warner Bros. Television, Telepictures Productions, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Horizon Television; selected HBO Independent Productions and the Lorimar Television library; current feature films from Warner Bros. Pictures; and the Studio’s unmatched motion picture library.

About Fox Television Stations
The Fox Television Stations is one of the nation’s largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 27 stations in 18 markets and covering nearly 37.34% of U.S. television homes. This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.