Channel 4 Secures Simpsons TV Rights

Channel 4 has acquired the terrestrial TV rights to The Simpsons after outbidding its rival Channel 5.

Fierce bidding for the cult American TV show began earlier in the week after the BBC, which currently pays around £100,000 per episode for the show, withdrew from negotiations saying that the price had become “vastly inflated” (see BBC Says Doh! Over Simpsons Rights). Channel 4 is thought to have paid around £700,000 per episode for the show and will begin broadcasting new episodes from 2004.

Tim Gardam, Channel 4’s director of programmes, said: “We are very excited to have secured the rights to what is broadly recognised as one of TV’s most creative and original shows. The Simpsons will help reinforce Channel 4’s appeal with young and upmarket audiences.”

The deal will come as a blow for Channel 5 which is widely acknowledged to need an “appointment to view” TV series to increase its audience share. Channel 4 has already achieved success with expensive American imports such as Friends, ER and Frasier and the addition of The Simpsons will help to boost the Channel’s appeal among 16-34 year-olds.

The Simpsons will continue to be shown first on Sky One and the BBC’s current deal runs until 2006.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.co.uk Channel 5: 020 7550 5555 www.channel5.co.uk

Recent TV stories from NewsLine: BARB Data Shows Viewing Increase IPA Report Shows TV Viewing Continues To Decline ITV And BBC Agree World Cup Share Out

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive