The home entertainment company has bought the rerun
rights to the TV series “Mad Men,” making its online streaming service
the next place to watch episodes after the show’s initial airing on
cable network AMC.
The first-of-its-kind deal means that reruns for the
critically acclaimed program won’t air on a broadcast or cable network,
as typically is the case. It’s the first time that
Though the agreement is a sign of
growing influence in the television industry, it also underscores the
tough hurdles Lionsgate might have faced trying to sell the show to a
traditional network. Serialized dramas such as “Mad Men” do not perform
well in reruns, negatively impacting their value.
For example, A&E shelled out
A big hit with critics, “Mad Men” has always had a
modest audience compared with other cable shows such as TNT’s “The
Closer” and
The show, however, is expensive to produce. AMC pays close to
The first four 13-episode seasons of “Mad Men” will debut on Netflix Instant on
About half of the video streamed by
is now television shows. The Internet service has proved particularly
popular for dramas, as many people choose to “marathon” several
episodes in a row of programs with intricate, continuing plotlines like
“Mad Men.”
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