The Tribune Entertainment Company has reached one of its largest cable licensing deals ever by granting the Sci Fi Channel the rights to air the 22 original fifth season episodes of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, starring Kevin (Hercules) Sorbo, this fall. Additionally, the Sci Fi Channel will have the television rights to the first four seasons, another 88 episodes, with the two-hour pilot currently scheduled to air Friday, March 26th, to kick the series off on cable.
The fifth season episodes will air in syndication a week to ten days after premiering on the Sci Fi Channel.
Sales of a number of licensed products, such as DVDs from ADV Films and trading cards from InkWorks, could benefit from this additional exposure, as reruns of Andromeda have been almost nonexistent, which, combined with original episodes airing at inconsistent times in syndication due to sporting events running long, have left fans searching for episodes they've never seen.
Another part of the licensing agreement gives the Sci Fi Channel the rights to air 66 episodes (three seasons) of the weekly action series, BeastMaster, which has also been released on DVD by ADV Films (see 'ADV Nabs BeastMaster Video Rights').
