TBS has closed a deal with NBCUniversal for the cable syndication rights to the first five seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The pact, which starts in 2017, is for exclusive linear and associated on-demand rights, including rolling episodes on TV Everywhere. Brooklyn Nine-Nine just kicked off its fourth season on Fox, so the Season 5 component of the deal is contingent on the show being renewed for next season.
No one would comment on the price, though industry sources estimate it to be around or under $500,000 an episode. The exclusive SVOD rights to previous seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine were sold to Hulu in 2014 as part of a multi-series deal between NBCU and the streaming service. The TBS deal gives the cable network exclusive rights against all linear exhibition of out-of-season episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, including against broadcast syndication.
TBS always had been considered the likely cable home for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In his previous job running Fox, TNT and TBS president Kevin Reilly developed and greenlighted Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which had been a passion project for him. The cop comedy starring Andy Samberg also fits into TBS’ new direction with original programming for distinctive single-camera comedies that are digital and socially driven.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine draws a large portion of its audience via time-shifting and video on demand, last season growing by an average of 56% in adults 18-49 rating from Live+Same Day to Live+7 (from a 1.21 rating to a 1.89) and increasing by more than 1.2 million viewers overall (2.7 million to 4.0 million).
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which won Golden Globes for best comedy series and best actor, Samberg, in its first season, is produced by Universal Television, 3 Arts Entertainment, Fremulon and Dr. Goor Productions. It was created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur, who executive produce with David Miner and Luke Del Tredici. Co-starring alongside Samberg on the show is Andre Braugher, who has earned three Emmy nominations for his role as Capt. Ray Holt.
NBCUniversal also recently made a cable syndication deal for its Hulu comedy series The Mindy Project (which coincidentally Reilly also had piloted and ordered at Fox). It sold to VH1 and Freeform.
