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[04/27/06 - 12:00 AM]
Debmar-Mercury Announces Stations to Air Tyler Perry's Original Comedy Series House of Payne

[via press release from Debmar-Mercury]

DEBMAR-MERCURY ANNOUNCES STATIONS TO AIR TYLER PERRY'S ORIGINAL COMEDY SERIES HOUSE OF PAYNE

Major Station Groups Participating Including Fox, Tribune, CBS and Sinclair

Stations in Ten Select Markets to Begin Airing "House of Payne" This Spring/Summer

LOS ANGELES (April 27, 2006) - Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein today announced stations in ten markets are slated to air the first ten episodes of Tyler Perry's first-run, original comedy series House Of Payne. Inspired by the independent film release model, Debmar-Mercury is distributing ten episodes of the series, which was created specifically for syndication, in a limited run this Spring/Summer with additional episodes to be available for national distribution in Fall 2007. The stations participating in the limited run this Spring/Summer represent all of the major station groups, including Fox, Tribune, CBS and Sinclair. Markets include New York, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Baltimore and Raleigh. WWOR CH 9 in New York and KTXH CH 20 in Houston will be the first to air the show, beginning on May 8.

"The response from stations to the concept of a first-run, syndicated comedy with Tyler Perry as the creative driving force has been overwhelming," said Marcus. "As we suspected, there is a huge demand in television broadcasting for quality family comedy, and it's a demand that Tyler Perry's House of Payne will be able to meet."

"It was important for us to stay true to the independent spirit behind this project," added Bernstein. "We specifically selected two major stations from each station group in addition to two independents to give a fair and balanced run for these first airings of House of Payne."

House of Payne, about the comical situations that ensue when a multi-generational family lives under one roof, reflects Perry's gift for delivering inspirational and uplifting stories with identifiable characters.

Stations slated to air the first ten episodes of House of Payne include: WWOR CH 9 New York; KTXH CH 20 Houston; WCIU CH 26 Chicago; WPHL CH 17 Philadelphia; WBDC CH 50 Washington, DC; WTBS CH 17 Atlanta; KTXA CH 21 Dallas; WBFS CH 33 Miami; WNUV CH 54 Baltimore; and WRDC CH 28 Raleigh.

This is the first television outing for Perry, who is best known for his hits film Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion. Perry is also one America's most successful young playwrights. His plays including I Know I've Been Changed and I Can Do Bad All By Myself among others, have earned over $100M in ticket sales and $30M in home video sales. Approximately 300 of Perry's live shows a year are seen by over 2,000,000 theatergoers. Perry recently released his first book, titled Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Life and Love.

About Debmar-Mercury

Debmar-Mercury is a worldwide production and distribution media company specializing in network, cable, syndication, VOD/Pay-Per-View and Pay TV. Debmar-Mercury owns the distribution rights to the country's fastest growing off-net sitcom, South Park, and an extensive movie library featuring titles from Revolution Studios. The company also licenses the Sci-Fi Channel's hit series Farscape, sci-fi/suspense series The Dead Zone, Dark Kingdom, Lion's Gate films, and National Geographic's Really Wild Animals.





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· HOUSE OF PAYNE (BET)





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