It makes sense that the best show ever to appear on television would set a record licensing deal, but the $180 million Hulu just doled out for the rights to Seinfeld is an extraordinary figure.
And it’s a nice, round figure as there are exactly 180 episodes. Go ahead. Do the math. It’s fairly easy.
[The] windfall to be split by distributor Sony TV, Time Warner’s Castle Rock and “Seinfeld” profit participants, including star/co-creator Jerry Seinfeld and co-creator Larry David. The pact is expected to be announced at Hulu’s upfront presentation on Wednesday.
Sony TV, which has long controlled distribution rights to the series on behalf of original producerCastle Rock TV, has been shopping the property for its first SVOD licensing pact for the past few months. A limited number of “Seinfeld” reruns have been available online via Sony TV’s ad-supported Crackle video platform, but the Hulu pact marks the first time the series will be available in its entirety in the new era of binge-viewing.
This news comes just as I was finally preparing myself to go outside for the first time in the calendar year. Guess that can wait.
Plus, I need to collect how much money I spent on box sets to collect the entire series before streaming technology became a reality.
The lesson? If you’re willing to wait 17 years after your favorite series, good things can happen!
[H/T: Variety]