By Rodney Ho/ October 6, 2014
J.R., we still miss you.
And so did Atlanta-based TNT, which saw "Dallas" ratings fall off after Larry Hagman's death in late 2012 during the middle of season two production. While the show still drew a respectable 2.8 million viewers this past summer, it skewed older than many of its other shows such as "The Last Ship" and "Falling Skies."
Deadline.com said the show's cancellation was a bit of a surprise since Time Warner sister studio Warner Horizon produced "Dallas."
Producers are hunting for another network to possibly keep it alive and fans are already petitioning for its return. (Sign one here on a petition which has more than 65,000 names as of October 8.)
This version of "Dallas" acted like a continuation of the 1980s CBS drama, as if two decades had just passed. A new generation of Ewings showed up along with a few original mainstays. In addition to Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Grey returned to play their iconic characters Bobby and Sue Ellen. The pace was faster but the juicy steamy soap operatic elements remained with betrayal, lies and cliffhangers galore.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
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In other TNT news, the network has anted up big time to keep the rights to the NBA through 2024-25.
According to AP, the NBA Finals remain on ABC, ESPN's broadcast partner. ESPN/ABC and TNT will continue to split the conference finals, with both networks adding extra regular-season games and expanded digital content.
The NBA's annual revenue from the agreements will increase from $930 million to more than $2.6 billion, according to a person familiar with the terms. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the league did not announce financial figures. The Wall Street Journal said TNT's share of that will double from an annual $445 million currently. But TNT will receive 64 live regular season games, up from 54 and air a few more plyaoff games as well.
The new deal starts in 2016-17. Will TNT be able to make any money with such a huge increase? That's debatable but sports rights programming costs have gone through the roof as live viewing becomes ever more important for advertisers and cable networks try to keep people from "cutting the cord."
TNT operates NBA TV, NBA.com and other NBA-related digital products out of Atlanta. That will continue.
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