'women' Goes To Cbs, Turner

CBS and Turner Broadcasting Co. have snagged television rights to Paramount Pictures' blockbuster comedy "What Women Want" in a five-year split-window deal estimated by sources to be worth about $30 million.

CBS will take first crack at the Mel Gibson-Helen Hunt starrer in fall 2003 for six months, sources said. The film will then go to TNT for 18 months, after which CBS will get it back for another 18 months, and then back to TNT for the remaining 18 months.

While Turner executives declined to confirm the value of the deal, the company's top acquisitions executive called the acquisition of the movie, which has grossed blockbuster $181.5 million to-date, a "real driver."

" 'What Women Want' is one of the most successful romantic comedies of all time, and it's a perfect fit for TNT," said Robert Levi, Turner Entertainment Group's president of worldwide program planning and acquisitions.

Turner was one of the first basic cable networks to craft broadcast and cable window splits, amassing more than 200 titles in similar deals, at times gaining the premiere window over its broadcast partners.

Even though there was significant interest among broadcast networks in "Women," there was grumbling among rival bidders that the movie had pretty much been predestined for Paramount sister network CBS.

It's not the first time CBS and Turner have partnered on movie rights. Earlier this year they entered into a split-window agreement for a package of five Warners movies that includes "Miss Congeniality" and "Proof of Life" (HR 2/8).

As in the case with the Warner Bros. movies, the broadcast window on "Women" closed first, but completing the cable part took longer because of a competitive bid from USA Networks, sources said.