Off-Net Family Guy Clearances Reach 82% of U.S. for Fall 2007
Twentieth Television has cleared off-net sitcom FAMILY GUY on 12 additional stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, thereby increasing its U.S. coverage to 82%, for fall 2007.
Sinclair stations clearing the animated series include WLFL-WRDC/Raleigh-Durham, WZTV-WUXP/Nashville, KABB-KMYS/San Antonio, WTTO-WABM/Birmingham, KOCB-KOKH/Oklahoma City, WNYO/Buffalo, WRLH/Richmond, WDKY/Lexington, WSYT-WNYS/Syracuse, WCHS-WVAH/Charleston-Huntington WV, KBSI-WDKA/Paducah, KY-Cape Girardeau, MO and WMMP-WTAT/Charleston, SC. FAMILY GUY had previously been cleared on Sinclair's WPGH-WCWB/Pittsburgh, WBFF-WNUV/Baltimore, WSYX-WTTE/Columbus and WCGC-WVTV/Milwaukee.
Other major group owners to air FAMILY GUY include Tribune Broadcasting, Fox Television Stations, Raycom Media, LIN TV, Acme Communications, Clear Channel Television, Belo, Nexstar and Las Vegas Television Partners.
Bill Butler, vp, group programming and promotion of Sinclair, said, "We are pleased to add this special series to 12 more of our stations. FAMILY GUY will play an important role in driving viewership with targeted demos, as well as serve as a strong platform to cross promote our program schedule."
In its fifth on the air, FAMILY GUY continues to grow in ratings. It is the number one sitcom with Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34, serve's as Fox's top primetime program with Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34 and, up against NFL football, ranks second in its Sunday 9:00-9:30 pm time period among Men 18-34, Men 18-49 and Women 18-34.
Since its debut in 1999, the Emmy Award-winning series has attracted impressively devoted fans and has sold nine million combined DVD units, outperforming THE SIMPSONS, SOUTH PARK, SEINFELD, FRIENDS and EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND. The show's success on DVD, combined with the ratings records it set on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, prompted FOX to bring it back for a fifth season, to make FAMILY GUY the only series ever to return to primetime network television after being cancelled.
A multiplatform success, more than 500 FAMILY GUY merchandise items have been licensed in some 10,000 consumer outlets, including such major retailers as Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart. On the Web, FAMILY GUY was 2005's third most searched television program of the year on Yahoo! and is the number one most downloaded cell phone television property, with 2.3 million ring tones, voice tones, wallpaper, ring backs and games downloaded to date. On stage, the hit "Family Guy Live!" events have sold out numerous performances in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
In addition to the regular cast, FAMILY GUY has featured a diverse range of guest voice appearances, including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lee Majors, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Kimmel, Drew Barrymore, Kiefer Sutherland, the legendary rock group KISS, James Woods, Phyllis Diller, Robert Downey, Jr., Carol Channing and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, among others.
FAMILY GUY is a 20th Century Fox Television production. MacFarlane is creator/exec producer and David Goodman is exec producer and show runner. Chris Sheridan also serves as exec producer.
A leader in the U.S. program production and distribution arena, Twentieth Television provides a wide array of first-run, network and off-network programming, as well as feature film packages, to the syndication and cable marketplaces.