Believe it or not, Fox's most famous animated sitcom "The Simpsons" has never been aired in reruns on any network other than Fox - until now.
TV Guide reports Fox is nearing a deal to sell the long-running series into syndication to a cable network sometime on the near future. Fox is no stranger to shopping its popular animated series around to other networks as its shows "King of the Hill," "Family Guy," "American Dad," "Futurama" and "The Cleveland Show" have all debuted on networks like Adult Swim and TBS for years now. "The Simpsons" has only ever been allowed to air on broadcast TV due to an exclusivity contract signed when the show first sold into syndication in 1993, according to Splitsider.
"With the company now mulling a cable sale, it's unclear what has changed. There has been speculation that The Simpsons might end after next year's 25th season, which would mean the iron-clad exclusive deal with stations would change. Or perhaps Twentieth has found a way to alter the existing broadcast-syndication deal with TV stations and finally add cable to the mix," writes TV Guide. "Analysts have long said that once The Simpsons ends its run on Fox, Twentieth will be able to sell its more than 530 episodes to a cable network for as much as $1.5 million per show. That would add nearly another $1 billion to what's already a multibillon-dollar franchise."
In the fall of 2011, Fox renewed the show for seasons 24 and 25 following a very public contract dispute with the voice cast that almost ended the series right then and there. While Fox has yet to renew for a 26th season, Variety reports the show could by syndicated on both broadcast and cable while Fox continues to roll out new episodes and that a Fox source tells them there are no plans to cancel the series anytime soon.
