HBO has been successful at selling its shows for high prices in the syndication market, but with vampire hit "True Blood" seeking $800,000 per episode, potential buyers should be cautious before jumping in, reports Joe Flint in the Los Angeles Times’ Company Town blog.
That’s because HBO, which produces the series with creator Alan Ball’s Your Face Goes Here Entertainment, hasn’t had the best track record with its shows successfully airing on other networks, the story says. Spike, for example, spent $600,000 per episode for reruns of "Entourage," only to see the program flounder, Flint writes. The ad-supported cable network has moved it across four different nights without much success, the story says.
Meanwhile, "The Sopranos" drew $2.6 million per episode from A&E, but its audience dropped to half of its 4.4 million viewer debut just two months later, the article points out.
And then there’s the content issue: viewers start to get annoyed after hearing so many bleeped-out expletives. "As charming as those vampires can be, cable networks should be careful about inviting them in, or else they might end up with all their blood drained," Flint concludes.
The last paragraph has it nailed – these shows are not the same without the language and sex included. It’s a package-deal and when part of that package is missing – the result is just not that good, in my opinion.
And putting up with the commercial breaks is not that great, either, but other shows endure that one.
The editing kills these programs and people rent or buy the DVD’s once they see how the editing ruins the program. Anyone who is a fan of these shows should watch one in syndication and you will immediately realize the issue. Sex and the City is a joke in syndication.