• by Wayne Friedman , May 12, 2006

Sony Pictures Television has one-upped Warner Bros.' syndication unit on an important new piece of turf: digital distribution rights for stations carrying "The Greg Berhandt Show," a new talk show debuting this fall. The deal is believed to be the first to give stations rights to air a syndicated broadcast TV show on their local websites after it runs over-the-air.

Better still, it comes at no cost to stations, and extends Sony's barter advertising agreement onto the stations' websites. As part of the deals, national ad units sold by Sony will run intact as part of the streaming video. Sony presumably can charge marketers more by extending their reach to the digital space. Sony's Stations are free to make their own extended TV/online deals its local advertisers.

Sony's move follows a recent effort by Warner Bros. giving off-network episodes of "Two and a Half Men" to stations for use on their local websites for streaming. But the difference is that Warner's stations get to stream video "Men" a week after their original airings on TV.

Executives say the Sony deal solves stations' problems - now they can share in advertising revenue with a studio for Internet airings. It is expected Sony will continue to make similar deals for other syndicated shows.

Sony also will also take an extra precaution when it comes to viewers searching for the show. Consumers who log on to www.GregBehrendt.com, for example, will be directed to their local TV website. Sony's stations need to use the digital rights for each episode within 24 hours after the initial TV airing.

Both Warner Bros. and Sony will use technology that prevents viewers from fast-forwarding through their web ads.