On the heels of The Wendy Williams Show‘s renewal and FX’s pickup of Charlie Sheen’s Anger Management, distributor Debmar-Mercury has renewed Family Feud through 2015.
Year-over-year, the long-running game show, now hosted by Steve Harvey, is up 40 percent in its key women 25-54 demographic and has posted a 35 percent household gain compared with 2010.
Produced by Fremantle Media North America, stations including Fox, Sinclair, CBS, Tribune, Cox, Capital, NBC, Sunbeam, Newport and Belo broadcast groups have agreed to carry Family Feud through 2015. The series will be filmed in HD beginning next year.
“Stations have wasted no time in securing this franchise well into the future with these long-term renewals, extending Family Feud through 2015 and making it a viable alternative to off-network sitcoms for many stations seeking strong early fringe and access programming,” said Debmar Mercury co-president Ira Bernstein, noting the series’ time slot upgrade in half of the country to the 5-8 p.m. period typically reserved for syndicated comedies.
Added Debmar-Mercury co-president Mort Marcus: “Fremantle has taken extraordinary steps to turn Family Feud into a ratings phenomenon over the past two seasons, recruiting an outstanding host and creative team whose incredible work have made this show a must-have for station groups. We couldn’t be more pleased by the enthusiastic response it has received in the marketplace.”
Debmar-Mercury renewed syndicated talk show The Wendy Williams Show for two more seasons late last month and last week sold Sheen’s half-hour comedy in a 90-10 broadcast deal to News Corp.-owned cabler FX with Bernstein and Marcus attached.
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