CBS Renews Amazon Deal for ‘Under the Dome’ Season 2
Amazon will bring CBS’ summertime hit “Under the Dome” back for season 2, under a renewal that keeps the Internet company the exclusive online subscription-video distributor for the show.
Drama from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, will return to the Eye for its second season in the summer 2014, as previously announced. Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service will offer the episodes four days after broadcast, as under their previous pact.
SEE ALSO: Did CBS Blackout on Time Warner Cable Boost Piracy of ‘Under the Dome’?
For CBS, the Amazon deal along with international pacts made “Under the Dome” profitable from the get-go, CEO Leslie Moonves said, speaking Wednesday at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment conference. “We basically were in profit regardless of what the network rating was,” he said. “Then when the network rating went through the roof — and it’s the highest-rated drama in the summer since 1991 — that became gravy.”
Internet-streaming rights were a bone of contention in the recent feud between CBS and Time Warner Cable, which led to a monthlong blackout of the Eye for the cable operator’s customers in New York, L.A. Dallas and smaller markets. TW Cable wanted rights to stream shows like “Under the Dome” to subs online, while CBS refused to budge to preserve its ability to make lucrative subscription VOD deals.
“Under the Dome” premiered on CBS in June with the 13th and final ep to air Monday, Sept. 16. The show has been the most-watched series of the summer across broadcast and cable with 14.85 million viewers, and is also the top broadcast series for adults 18-49 (3.9/11) and adults 25-54 (5.2/13).
Amazon Prime Instant Video, positioned as a rival to Netflix, is available to members of the e-commerce giant’s Prime free-shipping program. Eps of “Under the Dome” season 2 also will be available for purchase and download exclusively at Amazon Instant Video.
On Amazon, the first ep of “Under the Dome” was the most-watched TV premiere to date on Prime Instant Video and has been viewed more than any other series this summer.
“Under the Dome” is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television. Skein’s exec producers are Spielberg, Stephen King, Brian K. Vaughan, Neal Baer, Stacey Snider, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Jack Bender.
Separately, Amblin Television and CBS Television Studios are producing 13-episode futuristic drama thriller “Extant,” also set to air in summer 2014.
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