NATPE: Debmar-Mercury Clears E!'s 'True Hollywood Story' in more than 65% of U.S.

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

NATPE 2010: Complete Coverage from B&C
Debmar-Mercury has cleared E!'s True
Hollywood Story in more than 65% of the country for a fall 2010 launch, the
company said Jan. 24, on the eve of the National Association of Television Program Executives confab in Las Vegas.

Stations from the Fox, CBS, Weigel, Sunbeam,
Capitol, Scripps, Raycom and Landmark broadcast groups have picked up the show,
with clearances secured in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Debmar-Mercury
sold the one-hour strip on an all-barter basis.

Debmar-Mercury has selected key episodes out of
the more than 500 that exist. The show features in-depth interviews, celebrity
footage and behind-the-scenes scoop to tell the stories of Hollywood's famous
and infamous has aired on E! for more than a decade.

"Celebrity-driven programming works throughout
the day and attracts the key female demos coveted by advertisers," said Ira
Bernstein, Debmar-Mercury co-president, in a statement.

E!'s True Hollywood Story is the second
off-cable strip to get a firm go for fall 2010 launch. NBC Universal also hascleared its off-Bravo Real Housewives franchise in more than 85% of thecountry.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.