@TheSimpsons to get syndicated?

I guess a Simpsons channel is out of the picture then, yea?

First thing’s first. TVGuide says that The Simpsons may end after its 25th Season, but I doubt it as FOX has already announced a Simpsons/Family Guy cross over to air Fall of 2014 with the first episode being an hour long. If it happens though I wouldn’t be terribly surprised as although Al Jean wants to keep the show going, some of the voice talent have been voicing health concerns as being the catalyst to the illustrious show’s end.

In any case, the real story here is that TVGuide is reporting The Simpsons’ syndication rights could be for sale and that networks are lining up to buy what could amount to an additional $1B in revenue. Evidently, 20th Century FOX is shopping the cable rights to The Simpsons more to Network Cable giants rather than just channels. In other words, since there are SO many episodes of The Simpsons, FOX is offering network heads the rights to take the whole back catalog and let them distribute on ANY of their other channels.

Here’s how that would work. Let’s say Turner Broadcasting would claim the syndication rights to The Simpsons. They could easily do something similar as to what they just did with American Dad where they air newer episodes on TBS and then keep older episodes and first-runs on Adult Swim. That said, it looks like FX might be in the lead to secure the rights as a way to give a steady backbone to FXX’s debut. It’s Always Sunny is said to be wrapping up at the end of its 10th season which leaves not a lot of established content on FXX. In terms of animated shows, FX has both Archer and Chosen as of right now, and The Simpsons can act as a great lead-in to both. 

As the article notes, there are other networks to consider and the Simpsons channel could still happen, but in any case get ready because soon The Simpsons could be everywhere.