• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, March 25, 2025

In a growing trend, the big streamers are repurposing some of their hits on co-owned linear platforms to the benefit of both.

For the streamers, these re-airings -- such as next month’s premiere of the HBO/Max Jean Smart comedy “Hacks” on co-owned TBS -- are opportunities to introduce some of their top shows to non-subscribers, who might be enticed by the shows to sign up.

HBO, Max, TBS and TNT are all owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

For some of the legacy platforms -- especially moribund basic cable channels such as TBS and co-owned TNT -- the repurposed shows represent fresh content.

Although the repurposed shows have very short runs on the co-owned channels, they can still serve as welcome breaks from the constant airing of old sitcoms on TBS and the overexposed theatrical movies chopped up to accommodate interminable commercial breaks on TNT.

For example, for the 24-hour period of midnight to midnight on Monday (yesterday), the TBS schedule consisted of three hours (six consecutive episodes) of “Young Sheldon,” 12 episodes of “Friends,” then 12 consecutive episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” and two hours of “American Dad.”

Plans call for episodes of “Hacks” -- starring Jean Smart (photo above) as a veteran comedian -- to air on TBS from Thursday, April 3 to Monday, April 7. 

The stunt is being timed to lead into the start of the fourth season of “Hacks” April 10 on Max. In this way, WBD hopes for a publicity boost for the show, as well as new subscribers.

This coming Friday, WBD is doing the same thing with “True Detective: Night Country,” the fourth installment of HBO’s ongoing “True Detective” series.

The six-episode show, starring Jodie Foster, had its first run last winter on HBO/Max. This week, it will be seen on TNT.

Whether or not the airing of the show on TNT is aimed at generating buzz for a new season of “True Detective” was uncertain, since a premiere date for a new season is nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, CBS aired the first season of the mob drama “Tulsa King,” seen in first-run on co-owned Paramount+, last summer.

The airing of “Tulsa King,” starring Sylvester Stallone (photo above), was timed to air just before the debut of Season Two last September. 

Another high-profile streaming series, Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” starring Martin Short (photo above) and Steve Martin, was repurposed on ABC, first with an airing of Season One in January 2024 and then the second season this past January.

Of course, when shows from the streaming universe come to legacy, linear networks, the shows necessarily go through some editing and cleaning up of their violence and profanity -- yes, even in this day and age.