The network bidding war over ER is yet to come. But Chicago Hope will stay put.
Could CBS end up with two popular hospital dramas next season instead of one?
The four-year licensing deals with NBC and ER and CBS and Chicago Hope are both up this season. And a wild network bidding war is anticipated for ER, the No.1 show on television. In the meantime, CBS Entertainment president Leslie Moonves has quietly extended his network’s deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television for Chicago Hope for another year, with options for at least the two following seasons.
But as for ER, the industry has been buzzing for weeks that Warner Bros., the studio that produces the show, will welcome bids from all comers. The negotiations are expected to heat up early next year, if NBC and Warner Bros. Can’t come to terms by the March deadline. The asking price? The wishful thinkers behind ER have floated a $10 million fee an episode- up from the estimated $1.5 million to $2 million that NBC currently pays. But that’s more deal hype than reality. Certainly they’re trying to top the $5.5 million NBC pays Castle Rock Entertainment for Seinfeld.
If Warner Bros. And NBC are unable to hammer out a deal, a leading contender to nab ER in Moonves, who developed the show when he was president of Warner Bros. Television before coming to CBS. "While NBC sweats over what happens with ER, we know we have Chciago Hope locked up for the foreseeable future," says a CBS insider. Granted, Chicago Hope, while a success, is not in the same league with ER in terms of audience. Since it moved to Wednesday Nights this fall, it has performed respectably against tough competition. According to industry sources, CBS agreed to pay in the range of $1.6 million per episode.
Does that reasonable rate mean there’s enough money left for another hospital drama on CBS? All Moonves will say on the matter is "ER is a wonderful show that at the right price would be a valuable asset to any network."