Tyler Perry sitcom sold to TBS cable

Lionsgate's 'House of Payne' to debut in 10 markets nationwide.
LOS ANGELES -- Lionsgate's TV unit said Wednesday it signed distribution deals with TBS and Fox for a sitcom by "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" filmmaker Tyler Perry valued by industry sources at about $200 million.
Lionsgate's Debmar-Mercury bypassed the five main networks and sold 100 episodes of the series to cable's TBS for a first run starting in 2007. Then from September 2008, four Fox-owned stations will have syndication rights for the show, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne."
Perry's two Lionsgate-distributed films, "Diary" and "Madea's Family Reunion," scored big with black audiences.
He used his own money to produce a two-week test run of the sitcom in 10 major markets after realizing he would have to cede control and ownership of the show to get it on network TV, Debmar-Mercury's co-president, Mort Marcus, said Wednesday.
Debmar-Mercury, acquired in July by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp., paid for marketing costs and convinced the test stations to promote the show as though it were a regular series in exchange for getting the test episodes for free.
"We selected 10 stations across the country and we said, 'Let's let the audience choose and if they don't like it, fine,"' Marcus said. "This breaks a lot of barriers."
The ratings success of the test episodes allowed Debmar-Mercury to sign up TBS and WCIU-TV in Chicago for the first run, and News Corp.-owned Fox stations in New York, Houston, Dallas, and Washington D.C. for syndication.
Perry keeps ownership and creative control of the series, offering hope to other independent producers, Marcus said.
"Basically five or six companies own every single (distribution) asset," Marcus said. "If you are a producer or talent of any independent nature, you don't get ownership anymore. They cut you in and give you a passive piece and they control all distribution angles."
The new series follows C.J. Payne, who has to take his two kids and move in with his parents after his house burns down.
Ken Schwab, vice president of programming for Time Warner Inc.'s TBS and sister network TNT, reported "phenomenal success" in the show's test run on WTBS in Atlanta.
Stations carrying "Payne" also have agreed to test another Perry series, "Meet the Browns," in a year or so, Marcus said.
TBS is owned by Time Warner, the owner of CNNMoney.com.