The television syndication business is developing more Windows than Bill Gates these days. CBS Corp. today said off-network rights to “The Good Wife” will go to two subscription VOD
services (Amazon and Hulu), the Hallmark Channel and local stations.
The first three seasons of the legal potboiler will be available on Amazon Prime Instant Video beginning tomorrow, and the
current season will be available on Amazon later this year.
In addition, the first four seasons will be available on Hulu beginning Sept. 13.
Cable’s Hallmark Channel gets the
rights to weekday airings of “The Good Wife” reruns starting in January 2014. Weekend syndication of the series on broadcast stations begins in September 2014. CBS-owned stations and other
stations that cover a combined 85% of the nation’s viewers have already contracted for the hour- long drama that began as the story of a woman whose politician husband was caught in an
extramarital affair scandal but has branched out from there over its four seasons on the network.
Deadline.com reported this morning that factoring in all those distribution channels,
reruns will fetch about $2 million an episode.
Since its premiere in 2009 the drama, starring Julianna Margulies, has won several Emmy Awards and other awards, including a Peabody Award in
2011.