Primetime TV has plenty of great shows for viewers to choose from for a weekly dose of action and entertainment, but sometimes viewers simply want to relive the magic of days gone by. Many shows have syndication deals that allow for everything from blasts from the past to gigantic marathons. Now, two prominent network TV shows have landed syndication deals that will give fans the chance to watch old episodes on new networks. Both NCIS: New Orleans and Chicago P.D. will be syndicated, although not at the same place. Here's what you need to know.
Let's start with NCIS: New Orleans. The third installment in the NCIS franchise has been a major hit for CBS, and its fourth season is currently airing in primetime. TNT has acquired the rights to air the first three seasons in syndication. Additionally, TNT will have the rights to all subsequent seasons, which means that Season 4 will hit that network at some point after it concludes airing on CBS. Deadline reports that the per-episode fee for TNT is in the mid-to-high six figure range, which is a pretty big deal.
Interestingly, NCIS: New Orleans will be the first NCIS series to be initially syndicated on a cable network other than USA. Both original recipe NCIS and first spinoff NCIS: Los Angeles are syndicated on USA, which makes the sale to TNT somewhat surprising. All things considered, it's probably a good thing that there aren't frequent crossovers between New Orleans and the other shows to confuse things.
The deal with TNT isn't exclusive, as the show is still free to be sold off to Streaming Video On Demand and broadcast syndication. There's no word if this will happen, but the TNT deal should still come as a relief to fans, especially since New Orleans isn't currently streaming on any platform other than CBS All Access. Syndication comes as especially good news, given recent reports of what's been going on behind the scenes.
Chicago P.D. will not be going to TNT. Instead, NBC has cemented a deal with Fox Television (which was recently involved in a huge merger with Disney) for national syndication rights for P.D. Syndication will kick off in September 2018 with episodes on Mondays through Fridays on local broadcast stations throughout the country, including in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington D.C., Phoenix, Houston, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Orlando, Charlotte, and even more, according to Deadline. The syndication will likely be a relief for fans who come to miss Sophia Bush as a regular in the current season on NBC.
This is actually the second syndication deal for Chicago P.D. The first came back in September when NBC's sister company Oxygen Media landed the off-network rights to episodes. P.D. is also the first of the shows in the Chicago franchise to strike a syndication deal. Perhaps if Chicago P.D. performs well in syndication, similar deals could be struck for Chicago Fire and Chicago Med.
For your viewing options beyond syndication in the new year, check out our midseason TV premiere guide. If streaming is more your style, we have a handy 2018 Netflix premiere schedule. Be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news.
