This was posted Monday, July 17, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Tyler Perry's exclusive deal with OWN is coming to an end in 2019.
In two years, the Atlanta-based creative force will begin working exclusively with Viacom with a focus on BET, where he will be responsible through 2024 for 90 TV episodes a year. He will also immediately get to develop films for Viacom's Paramount Pictures, which probably appealed to his ability to have a one-stop distributor for both TV and movies. And if he chooses to do short-form video programming, Viacom will have access to that as well.
The prolific writer/director/producer helped lift OWN out of its early ratings doldrums. He brought over from TBS "For Better or Worse" (which concludes this week) and launched new shows such as top-rated "The Haves and the Have Nots," "Love Thy Neighbor" and "If Loving You is Wrong." Next year, "The Paynes" will debut. He is committed to new original programming for OWN through 2020. In all, he has already generated more than 500 episodes of original programming for OWN.
Perry, who has been close friends with Oprah Winfrey for years, could still work with OWN on a non-exclusive basis after 2019.
Winfrey's network has started developing its own more nuanced scripted fare such as "Greenleaf" (shot in Atlanta) and "Queen Sugar."
BET airs repeats of Perry's TBS shows "Meet the Browns" and "House of Payne." TBS was Perry's first home for TV programming.
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