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'Seinfeld' sets cable record
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September 14, 1998: 6:43 p.m. ET
TBS Superstation part of syndication deal to pay $1.6M per episode
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - TBS Superstation has signed a deal with its sister company, Castle Rock, and Sony Corp.'s Columbia/TriStar subsidiary for the exclusive cable distribution rights of the hit comedy, "Seinfeld."
The $280-million deal values the hit comedy at $1.6 million per episode -- by far outpacing all records for cable distribution. Lifetime Television set the previous record by paying $600,000 for each episode of "Ellen."
TBS beat out Barry Diller's USA Network Inc. and Rupert Murdoch's FX channel for the syndication rights. The series will begin to air in the fall of 2002.
In addition to the huge licensing fee, TBS is giving two 30-second spots within each half hour to Columbia/TriStar for the Sony unit to generate revenue.
Since Castle Rock, which produced "Seinfeld" and TBS are both owned by Time Warner Inc., some of the fee will be "recycled" back through the company, industry sources said.
CNNfn also is owned by Time Warner.
-- from staff and wire reports
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