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Sci Fi Channel Snares "Jericho" Rerun Rights

The Sci Fi Channel has snared the cable rerun rights to post-apocalyptic drama "Jericho" in a deal with CBS Television Distribution. The three-year pact gives Sci Fi the first and second seasons of the series, including an exclusive first run in basic cable for the first six months. The show will make its debut on Sci Fi debut with a four-episode marathon on Feb. 11, the night before the show's second-season premiere on CBS.

"Jericho" will also be simulcast in high definition and will begin airing in a regular time slot at 10 p.m. Mondays beginning Feb. 18. The program features the survivors of a nuclear attack in a Kansas town and rolled out in September 2006. Ratings looked good initially, but later tanked after a three-month hiatus -- and a return that put it up against Fox's "American Idol."

CBS then canceled the series, only to relent after viewers launched a campaign to save it. Thomas Vitale, senior vice president of programming and original movies at Sci Fi, says "Jericho" is "gripping" and adds that "thanks to the passion and persistence of its loyal viewers who saved this program from being canceled, new viewers can now experience this show for the first time on the Sci Fi Channel, while CBS continues the story in its second-season run."

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