UK members to get Knight Rider on Sci Fi.

[ANDREWHEARNE]

Hope this is right place to put, but apologies in advance.

UK members, will be pleased to know that The Sci Fi Channel has picked up the UK rights to two new US dramas, it has been announced.

The NBC Universal-owned channel has secured the first run UK pay-TV rights to Joss Whedon's Dollhouse and the remake of David Hasselhoff's 1980s show Knight Rider.

"We're dedicated to offering our audience the most exciting content available and are thrilled to become the UK home for two such highly anticipated series," said Jon Farrar, programming director for NBC Universal Global Networks. "Knight Rider and Dollhouse both hail from fine pedigrees, clearly reflected in their superior production values.

"The special effects in both series are genuinely show-stopping and likely to be the subject of many water-cooler moments for fans, who have the added choice of watching in either standard or high definition.”

Both shows have been secured for their 13-episode first seasons. The agreement also includes the renewal of repeat rights to seasons one to five of Whedon’s popular Buffy spin-off Angel.

This was posted on Digital Spy

[Luis]

AWESOME!

This is a very important step towards Season 2 I think there's a good chance the show will survive at least in syndication. Universal must know by now that they have a cash cow in their hands.

Little by little, Knight Rider is showing its true value.

[CrimsonK9]

Best news we've heard here in WEEKS!!!!

The news is out there and the story is easy to find. For ONCE we get somebody in the media talking the show UP instead of running it down!

I may have to take the rest of the day off........

[KRAvengerII]

gee, doesn't KR have 17 episodes?

[wez]

woopppp cant wait any idea's when?

[Longun]

Its good news for sure.

However I've got to agree i'm a bit worried about the episode count, unless they got the last 13 not the first At least that way we get to see the best episodes

Also Sci Fi isn't a massive channel over here.

[Stuntman Lee]

Well it's better than nothing I guess. Sci-Fi Channel doesn't really have many viewers though does it. KR belongs on a mainstream terrestial channel. Not everyone has Sky or Virgin and Sci-Fi isn't on Freeview.

I did laugh at the show stopping special effects comment.

Moan over.

[DJGM]

It's true that The Sci-Fi Channel is very much a niche channel here in the UK. And with the
channel being available only via the subscription based digital satellite and cable services,
from Sky and VirginMedia, but not on Freeview, the largest digital TV platform in the UK,
the new series of KR won't get the sort of audience it really needs.

[sarfraz]

Guardian are also carrying the story so it looks legit along with a mini trailer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/ma ... ight-rider" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think the 13 ep's is in reference to the other show and not Knight Rider. Its not completely bad news to be honest. Remember Heroes started life on Scifi channel aswell before migrating to BBC.

I'd bet that if KR08 gets renewed for another season, look out for one of the mainstream channels to steal the rights away from Sci-fi.

Sarfraz

[sarfraz]

I'm a news junkie!!!!

http://www.scifi.co.uk/articles/2009/03 ... iere-2.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Knight Rider is on the Sci Fi website. KR08 airs in May.

Sarfraz

[PHOENIXZERO]

.... Still calling it a remake..... /headdesk

Anyway, this is good news, even if it's a small network.

[crashb648]

Well good news at last! Finally, the UK gets hold of the series for viewing.

But i dont have the sci-fi channel, only have freeview. so i wont be able to watch it...

[MARKK]

This is brilliant ! Top Banana !!
and it's only a couple of months away !!!

Yes it's true that the uk SciFi channel is a bit in the backround when it comes to viewers but at least the new KR will have a home in the uk and of course the channel does like showing reruns to death so it'll be on a different times !

Here's to the future and more........

[Mike K]

Great news - but like everyone says scifi channel not that big over here - still its a start & I will be watching again for sure

[welshKITT]

This is great! Can't wait for the new show though I agree with the other members that it being on Sci-Fi which is not really major here might not have the exposure it needs. Hopefully there will be enough to convince NBC to renew the show for a second season. I feel sorry for fans who don't have Sky or Virgin Media and it's a shame that Sci-Fi is not on Freeview or FreeSat at this time but who knows maybe it will be someday.

[ianruk]

this is good since i am from the uk but at the same time ive already seen all the new knightrider episodes since i downloaded them each week

this is good news because although the uk doesnt really mean much in the way of tv shows in the usa, if i remember correctly because of the uk that show '24' wasnt cancled, i think i read somewhere that it wasnt doing too well in the states but was doing well over here so they decided to make more because of the ratings (i dont like 24 though its crap) but my point is if knightrider does some good ratings over here then theres a chance they will look and say 'hey maybe we will make a season 2'

[PHOENIXZERO]

Will you still be watching it when it airs? Or at least have your TV set to it while you do something else.

[ozikool]

I hope it goes to SKY1

[Skav]

I must admit, I am surprised ITV didn't pick it up for a Sat afternoon. They even managed to pick up the very poor TKR.

I reckon if it takes off over here then ITV are bound to pick it up at some point.

[ozikool]

I must admit, I am surprised ITV didn't pick it up for a Sat afternoon. They even managed to pick up the very poor TKR.

I reckon if it takes off over here then ITV are bound to pick it up at some point.

TKR omg that is bad

[trissybabes]

Great that it's finally headed for the UK - AWFUL that it's only on Sci-Fi (or "SyFy" as it's going to end up as).

That's alienated a great percentage of potential viewership.

Still, if it does well, it'll hopefully go to DVD and I'll buy that instead.

[ShadowTD]

Like many other UK members I'm disappointed to see that it's a multichannel station and a niche one at that who've picked up KR08. The original Knight Rider was such a key part of ITV's schedules (one of the main free channels in the UK) but ITV are in dire straits these days. Channel 5 would have been good to see, or failing that Sky One - there would have at least been a decent amount of promotion.

Hell, at least SciFi have gone widescreen now!

[knightendo77]

Let's not forget that NBC/Universal owns the channel too, which may be a factor. Also, they'll be able to keep tabs on how it's doing rating-wise pretty much straight away as a result of this. And it's not the first time a show has debuted on a smaller channel only to be repeated on a more mainstream one later on. ITV and Five wouldn't have treated it right, they wouldn't show it on prime-time and would broadcast it either really late at night when everyone's asleep, or too early in which case it'd suffer from a lot of cuts just like the original.

Hey, anyway, let's look at the positives:

1) It's coming to a channel that'll treat it with respect.

2) It'll be in full widescreen.

3) Sci-Fi has an HD version so we'll be able to watch KR on that too!

4) It'll get loads of repeats so we can watch it to our heart's content

[ozikool]

Let's not forget that NBC/Universal owns the channel too, which may be a factor. Also, they'll be able to keep tabs on how it's doing rating-wise pretty much straight away as a result of this. And it's not the first time a show has debuted on a smaller channel only to be repeated on a more mainstream one later on. ITV and Five wouldn't have treated it right, they wouldn't show it on prime-time and would broadcast it either really late at night when everyone's asleep, or too early in which case it'd suffer from a lot of cuts just like the original.

Hey, anyway, let's look at the positives:

1) It's coming to a channel that'll treat it with respect.

2) It'll be in full widescreen.

3) Sci-Fi has an HD version so we'll be able to watch KR on that too!

4) It'll get loads of repeats so we can watch it to our heart's content

Yes that is good.I think NBC will get paid.

[weeezl]

Nice news and about feckin time !