[richard plumb]

BSkyB takes 'House' from Five - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety

from variety:

LONDON — Sky One, the flagship entertainment web of U.K. paybox BSkyB, has seized local first run rights to acclaimed U.S. hospital saga "House" from rival web Five.

The show's fifth series will bow on Sky One this summer following a deal with rights holder NBC Universal International TV Distribution.

so much for Five 'delaying' season 5 because of the Mentalist. We'll get it quite late, but hopefully season 6 will follow the US more closely, much like Sky's other US series like Lost etc. (although House does tend to have quite a few breaks during the season, so they might start late and catch up)

No news on whether it'll be in HD, but surely thats a given?

[Starburst]

I would assume so, SKY have bought HD rights for new imports since 2006 and upgraded packages for existing shows as and when they became due.

The "seized" bit is a little overly dramatic and who proofed read the article

[Scapegoat]

Good news / bad news.

Good news - for those with Sky HD as we get House (hopefull) in HD.

Bad news - for those without Sky. Its one thing when Sky sign up 'new shows' like Fringe etc, but it must be very annoying to have a show 'stolen' from freeview customers. Also the wrangling has meant a delay for everyone who was looking forward to it.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

Good news / bad news.

Good news - for those with Sky HD as we get House (hopefull) in HD.

Bad news - for those without Sky. Its one thing when Sky sign up 'new shows' like Fringe etc, but it must be very annoying to have a show 'stolen' from freeview customers. Also the wrangling has meant a delay for everyone who was looking forward to it.

My point in regards to the use of the word "seized" in the article.
Five dropped the show and SKY1 picked it up, it's not like they went into a bidding war in the same manner as LOST or PB although in the former CH4 still had first option.

Perhaps another free channel would have been interested in House but given Hugh got a bumper pay rise you would assume the shows price increased thus limiting the value to advert driven channels already under pressure due to the market. If it wasn't SKY1 then perhaps Hallmark would have secured first run rights and put simply if it can't do the business on free Five then who else is there?

[Greg]

I think Five actually dropped House in favour of The Mentalist. So it's not like Sky and their money stole it from Five.

[Basil Plumley]

Five dropped House...

The words "shot", "themselves" and "foot" spring to mind...is it not one of - if the not the most popular show they actually had...?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Don Lafontaine

Five dropped House...

The words "shot", "themselves" and "foot" spring to mind...is it not one of - if the not the most popular show they actually had...?

It was a solid 2million plus performer but who knows exactly how much per ep it was costing them and how much the fifth season was going to cost. Hugh got a bump to $400,000 an ep for the fifth season which goes hand in hand with the traditional across the board cost increases for most network productions that hit that milestone and continue beyond.
Meanwhile The Mentalist a new and unproven series which Five probably picked up quite cheaply compared to CSI, NCIS and House has turned out to be a match for House ratings wise at a fraction of the price and coupled with the downturn in advertising revenues they chose to spend their budget elsewhere.