• by Wayne Friedman , March 10, 2008

NBC and DirecTV are close to partnering on an unusual deal to renew the ratings-challenged but critically acclaimed "Friday Night Lights," according to reports.

According to the Web site, Deadline Hollywood, NBC is nearing a deal with DirecTV to share the costs of the show--as well as giving the satellite distributor a shared TV exhibition window.

Executives at NBC and DirecTV would not comment.

For some time, NBC had been shopping the show around to other broadcast and cable networks--CW, G4, and TNT--per industry reports. But there were no takers.

"DirecTV doesn't have the number of potential viewers that CW or TNT or G4 have," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director for Horizon Media. "But it's an interesting concept to boost ratings." DirecTV has 16 million subscribers.

While NBC, like other nets, moves more into reality programming, it wants to keep "Friday Night Lights," which has yielded weak audiences over the past two years but gets rave reviews. NBC marketing campaigns have touted the network's "quality" shows.

NBC's main problem is running expensive dramas--especially for shows that have little upside growth on specific nights. "Friday Night Lights" runs on Fridays at 9 p.m., typically coming in last in its time period. It has been averaging around 5 and a half million viewers, earning around a 1.7 rating/5 share among 18-49 viewers.

"Shows on Friday night are difficult to gain traction," says Adgate.

For years, broadcast networks have shared windows for programs with cable networks--especially for expensive TV dramas. But never has a network partnered with a TV distributor, such as a cable operator or satellite distributor.

DirecTV has been ramping up its efforts to air original programming on is own channel, called "The 101." Shows include "Passions," a soap opera that moved from NBC, and original shows--such as an unscripted comedy court show "Supreme Court of Comedy" and game show "Rock and a Hard Place," hosted by MeatLoaf.