Television
September 17, 2001
A&E Network Secures Cable Rights To “Third Watch”
(September 17, 2001 – New York, NY) - A&E Network has acquired the exclusive off-network television rights to the popular one-hour drama, “THIRD WATCH,” in a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution, it was announced today by Dan Davids, Executive Vice President and General Manager, A&E. The series comes to A&E beginning in the Fall of 2002.
“THIRD WATCH,” one of the highest-rated freshman programs when it made its debut in the Fall of 1999, is an action-packed drama about the brave and dedicated professionals who serve as police officers, firefighters and paramedics in New York City during the 3:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. “third watch” shift. Fighting fires, saving lives and keeping the streets of the Big Apple safe is all in a day’s work for this group of dedicated professionals. John Wells and Christopher Chulack developed the series, nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Best New Drama Series in 2000. “THIRD WATCH” is from John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by John Wells, Christopher Chulack, Brooke Kennedy, Edward Allen Bernero and Jorge Zamacona.
The series stars an ensemble cast including Michael Beach (“ER”), Bobby Cannavale (“100 Centre Street”), Chris Bauer (“61*”), Coby Bell (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Eddie Cibrian (“Sunset Beach”), Molly Price (“Pushing Tin”), Kim Raver (“Trinity”), Anothony Ruivivar (“Starship Troopers”), Skipp Sudduth (“Ronin”) and Jason Wiles (“Beverly Hills, 90210”).
“We are excited to add this high quality, entertaining series to our Network,” said Mr. Davids. “The series is smart, action-packed, entertaining and an ideal match for us from a demographic standpoint. We are confident that ‘THIRD WATCH’ will be a wonderful addition to our lineup and become a signature series for the Network.”
“John Wells’ ‘THIRD WATCH’ is a perfect fit for A&E, which has established itself with viewers as a showcase for quality programming,” said Eric Frankel, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution. “A&E moved aggressively, surpassing other offers for this series, which is sure to become a valuable anchor in their programming line-up.”
Winner of the 2000 Governors Award from The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for The Biography Project for Schools, A&E offers viewers a unique blend of original programming, including the highly acclaimed Biography® series, original movies, drama series, and engaging documentaries. A&E is available in more than 83 million Nielsen homes in the United States. A&E received 14 Emmy nominations in 2001, the most of any basic cable network. The A&E web site is located at www.AandE.com, the BIOGRAPHY web site is located at www.Biography.com.
Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution is one of the leading suppliers of programming to the cable and satellite marketplaces. It is responsible for sales, marketing and distribution of Warner Bros. feature films, television series, miniseries, television movies and specials to the pay television and basic cable markets, as well as feature films to the broadcast networks. The division currently supplies programming to a dozen broadcast networks, 30 pay television and nearly 100 basic cable networks. # # #