FOX just wants one Partner for ‘The Simpsons’ syndication deal

Deadline recently sat in on a financials call with Gary Newman the President of 20th Century FOX as he was talking about the pending syndication rights that could fetch upwards of $1 billion from any willing cable networks. Some names like TBS, FX/FXX, and Cartoon Network have been thrown out there as potential new suitors and whilst on the call it sounds as though Gary was pitching these nets and even was helping come up with ideas for different programming initiatives the networks could utilize with having the Simpsons brand in tow:

”A cable channel could play the series for 52 weeks and not have to repeat.” The studio also is telling potential buyers that they can be creative: For example there are enough “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes to run all through October, and sufficient episodes featuring Marge to surround Mother’s Day all through May. With new episodes continuing to appear on Fox’s broadcast network, the franchise is “stronger than ever,” Newman says. 

Interesting ideas, and let’s face it with 530 episodes there is enough Simpsons to go around and Gary put it best when he was mentioning the series could play on for 52 weeks without a repeat and that doesn’t even include the potential new episodes. Of course there is also the idea floating out there for an actual Simpsons network.

Newman also pointed out on the call that there will be additional Simpsons games on the way following the success of the ‘Tapped Out’ that came out last year and racked up a bunch of money. He also noted that the Simpsons attractions at Universal Studios have been a hit so don’t be surprised if you see more of that as well.

The Simpsons are currently in reruns on FOX, but new episodes start Sept.29th @ 8 pm EST, check your local listings!