Dre's
Page
N E W S RELEASE.
UNIVERSAL, DOMESTIC TV UNVEILS NEW FIRST-RUN
WEEKLY ACTION SERIES 'TEAM KNIGHT RIDER' FOR FALL 1997
Cleared by Chris-Craft/United and Other
Stations In 40% of U.S., Including 15 of the lop-20 Markets
Universal City, California, Dec. 10, 1996 --
Universal Domestic Television will offer 22 one-hour episodes of
the new weekly first-run action series Team Knight Rider for the
1997-98 season, it was announced today by Jim McNamara,
President, Universal Television Enterprises.
TKR, which is being offered to stations on a
straight barter basis, has already been cleared in 40% of the
U.S., including 15 of the top-20 markets. The Chris- Craft/United
stations in New York (WWOR), Los Angeles (KCOP), San Francisco
(KBHK), Minneapolis (KMSP), Phoenix (KUTP) and Portland, Or.
(KPTV), will serve as the primary launch group,
"We chose to go into the market with the
Knight Rider franchise because it is already a proven winner on
both network television and in syndication, having garnered
phenomenal ratings as a series and two-hour movies," said
Mr. McNamara, who heads the syndicator's domestic distribution,
first-run production and international TV units. "And
because this is coming from Universal, the world leader in
action- adventure programming, 'TKR' will have all of the great
writing, high production values and action that audiences have
come to expect from us."
Added Universal Domestic Television Executive
Vice President Steve Rosenberg, "From a strategic
standpoint, it made the most sense to take a highly successful
project like TKR into syndication rather than to a network. The
first-run market allows us to control our own destiny by ofiering
lengthier production commitments and the strongest available time
periods."
With a unique visual style, TKR will revolve
around a team of dynamic crime fighters who possess
technologically advanced vehicles with unique personalities.
Production is slated to begin in the spring and tasting will get
underway shortly.
"This is not your father's Knight
Rider," said Ned Nalle, Executive Vice President of
Universal Television Enterprises Prods, "It will be smarter,
hipper, with more complex story lines and more characters. As we
have done so successfully with Hecules and Xena, we are seeking
to turn out a show that two generations of the same household can
watch together. Adults will find it smart and funny and kids will
just find it plenty of fun."
Dan Filie, Senior Vice Prejident of
Development, is the force behind the new series and has signed
writer/excutive producers Rick Copp and David A. Goodman (The
Adventres of Captain Zoom in Outer Space, Dream On, Wings, The
Golden Girls) for TKR, Mr. Cropp and Mr. Goodman entered into an
exclusive multi-year deal to create, develop and produce
television programming for the Universal Television Group in
April.
TKR extends a franchise, created by Glen. A
Larson, that began in 1982 on NBC. The initial series performed
so strongly that the network used it to solidify weak time
periods over the course of its four year run.
During the 1990-91 season. Knight Rider 2000
aired on NBC and outscored all other action hours. The movie also
delivered nearly as many key women viewers.
A two-hour feature titled Knight Rider 2010
aired in February 1994 on the Universal Action Pack. It ranked
third among all syndicated programs that week with men 18-49 and
25-54. Additionally, the movie out-performed all other Universal
Action Pack titles in households and male demos, including the
Hercules movies that appeared that year before beioming a hit
weekly syndicated series in January 1995.
Foundation Staff
Episode Library
Links
E-Mail me at lildre@ibm.net
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free
Home Page