The Simpsons is the most-watched animated show among 18-49 year olds, with reruns worth a billion dollars! In a recent Brand Keys survey among that most-desired of demographics (men and women 18-49 years old), we asked about the animated TV series they watched most often, here’s how the top-10 ranked:
1. Simpsons
2. Archer
3. Futurama
4. Family Guy
5. Bob’s Burgers
6. Venture Brothers
7. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
8. South Park
9. American Dad
10. King of the Hill
You’ll probably be hearing a lot of ‘D’ohs!’ in the near future. Not because The Simpsons was number one on our list, but because the figure of one billion dollars is being floated around as regards Twentieth Television, a unit of Fox TV’s syndicated division, plan to market reruns of the network’s long-running animated comedy The Simpsons. Yes, one billion dollars!
The Simpsons is entering its 25th year on TV and even with 530 episodes in the can, Fox has no plans to cancel the series, which was first syndicated to TV stations 15 years ago. What is new is that now they would license reruns to stations and cable channels at the same time with no effects to current syndication deals.
So, as new episodes appear on Fox, you’ll see them syndicated on both broadcast and cable. And if that sounds like something out of a continuous loop from an ‘Itchy and Scratchy’ episode, you wouldn’t be wrong. With broadcast and cable needing to fill a nearly bottomless mobile-access maw 24/7/365, all platforms are looking for new content. Netflix and Amazon have created their own shows, but ultimately that’s only a drop in the entertainment bucket.
So who might end up the new proprietors of the Springfield clan? FX, another News Corp cable networks seems a likely suspect, with supposed rights of first refusal, or even their nascent comedy net FXX. Other potential buyers could be Viacom (Comedy Central and Nick at Nite) or Turner Broadcasting, or Netflix.
When will we learn who’ll be the beneficiary of all this syndication content? For an answer we can only offer a quote from Homer Simpson himself: “When will I learn? The answer to life’s problems aren’t at the bottom of a bottle, they’re on TV!”
Stay tuned.
[The Simpsons is screened on DStv, Fox Channel 125]
Robert Passikoff is President of Brand Keys
