A&E Nabs 'Sopranos' To Tune of Many Millions

In the fall of 2006, Tony Soprano and his pals will hold forth on A&E, at $2.5 million per episode. (Hbo Via Reuters)

For about $2.5 million per episode, basic cable network A&E has snagged the exclusive right to rerun HBO's "The Sopranos," starting in fall 2006.

A&E plans to telecast the graphic mob drama in prime time but will edit the episodes, in cooperation with HBO, says A&E's Robert DeBitetto, senior vice president, programming.

By the time those reruns are shown, A&E's "Faith of My Fathers" bioflick of Sen. John McCain will be a distant memory. McCain is the man who has said he's so offended by violence on some cable networks he thinks parents should be allowed to choose, a la carte, those networks that come into their homes. Too bad A&E hadn't closed the "Sopranos" deal a couple of weeks ago, before McCain appeared at Winter TV Press Tour 2005 to explain to critics why A&E was just the right network to adapt his autobiography.

For its $2.5 million per episode -- a record price tag to telecast repeats of a series from another network -- A&E gets exclusive rerun rights for four years to all 78 episodes of "Sopranos" seasons No. 1-6, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. After that, HBO can sell the episodes all over again to a broadcast network -- but only to run on weekends while A&E continues to rerun them weekdays.

The A&E deal encompasses Season 6, which is scheduled to debut on HBO early next year and which is officially being called the final season. But if, as fans hope, plans change and there is a Season 7, A&E's deal will include that as well.

"We believe with HBO's help we will be able to create episodes that are perfectly appropriate for our air that will be enthusiastically . . . received by the advertising community but that . . . will really preserve the essence of what HBO and the creators have created with the series," DeBitetto told The TV Column.

He noted it will mark the first time advertisers have been able to buy inventory in the critically acclaimed, highly rated, extremely violent drama about ruthless-except-when-it-comes-to-ducks mob boss Tony Soprano and his dysfunction-defining family. DeBitetto also noted that for 60 percent of A&E's audience, it will be their first access to the series; only about a third of the country subscribes to HBO.

A makeup artist has sued Calvin Broadus -- aka Snoop Dogg -- ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney, claiming Broadus and four of his colleagues raped her in his dressing room after a January 2003 taping of the late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

In the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last week, Kylie Bell, who won an Emmy for her work on HBO's "Six Feet Under," claims she was assaulted by Broadus and four of his friends after she was incapacitated by drinking what a Snoop associate told her was champagne. Bell is seeking $25 million in combined damages, according to the lawsuit, which yesterday made its way to thesmokinggun.com. Bell's action comes weeks after Snoop Dogg filed a preemptive suit claiming he had been targeted for extortion by a woman who claimed he and his pals sexually assaulted her, the Web site noted.

Bell also claims that ABC holds some responsibility for the attack because the rapper's dressing room was stocked with champagne and marijuana. Her suit alleges that she saw Broadus "snorting cocaine powder."

"This whole lawsuit is an indictment on the entertainment industry," attorney Perry C. Wander told The TV Column yesterday. Wander's name appears on Bell's suit, a copy of which was faxed to The TV Column by his office.

"The way the entertainment industry works is . . . they protect talent because, basically, that's their paycheck," he continued. "Talent is insulated," he said, adding that some become substance abusers because "they don't know how to deal with their fame and fortune."

"Corporate America is willing to do business with gangbangers and other criminal elements to make a profit," Wander said. "They use sex or, in this case, drugs and alcohol, to bring in ratings to get younger viewers . . . to get the highest advertiser dollars."

"I don't care about Snoop," he said. "He's one of a number of individuals that my client alleges sexually assaulted and raped her. . . . She was also assaulted and raped by ABC, Walt Disney and the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' show."