FX Networks Nabs Off-Network Rights To Family Guy & Bobs Burgers; FXX To Share Family Guy With Freeform

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, FX Networks has landed off-network rights to hit Fox animated series Family Guy, starting with its 16th (2017-18) season. Starting next week, Seth MacFarlanes pop culture phenom will air on comedy-focused FXX network, joining another blockbuster off-network animated comedy, The Simpsons.

In a corporate synergy move, the FX network will be sharing Family Guy reruns with new sibling Freeform, which will get small portion of the usage. Family Guy will debut on FXX April 16, airing 5 hours three days a week; its premiere on Freeform will be April 17, airing an hourlong block once a week, Wednesday. On FXX, Family Guy will air Tuesday (9-11 PM), Thursday (12-1 AM) and Sunday (7-9 PM), paired with The Simpsons, marking the first time the two classic animated comedies have aired together off-network.

Starting in the fall, FXX will offer repeat episodes of all three long-running series of Foxs Sunday animated block as FX Networks also has made an off-network deal for Bobs Burgers, starting with the current ninth season. (The older seasons of both Family Guy and Bobs Burgers remain on Turners Adult Swim/TBS for the time being.) The trio, produced by 20th Century Fox TV, will be accompanied on the FXX schedule by the networks hit original animated series Archer, whose library also is owned by FX. As of fall 2019, FX will air Seasons 16 and 17 of Family Guy; adding a new season every year and more hours a week until fall 2021 when FXX will become the exclusive cable network home of all previous seasons of the irreverent comedy with a carveout for Freeform. Bobs Burgers, complete library will be controlled by FX starting a couple of year later. (Family Guy and Bobs Burgers are currently renewed though 2019-20, Seasons 18 and 10, respectively, but both are fully expected to continue beyond that.)

FX Networks landed full library rights (including digital) to The Simpsons in 2013 in a ground-breaking deal expected to reach a billion dollars as the venerable series continues to produce new seasons (it was recently renewed by Fox for Seasons 31 and 32.)

In light of the success of The Simpsons, which was a game-changer for FXX, boosting the viewership of then-newly rebranded network, FX Networks had been on a lookout for more off-network adult animation fare, zeroing in on Family Guy and Bobs Burgers, which have proven their compatibility with The Simpsons on Fox.

Older episodes of Family Guy and Bobs Burgers currently air on Turners Adult Swim, which shares them with corporate sibling TBS. The deals cover the first 15 seasons of Family Guy and the first eight Read More – Source

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