Warner Bros. Discovery is bringing some of its more memorable HBO series to basic cable. Variety reports that the comedy series Silicon Valley and the drama True Blood will be broadcast on TBS and TNT this weekend, respectively.
Despite making the jump to basic cable, both shows will be edited for content, and receive a TV-MA rating, as well as more standard TV fare like ad breaks. While this isn’t exactly a new strategy with certain HBO series — shows like Sex and the City and The Sopranos have been syndicated before — it is the first time in many years that Warner Bros. Discovery will be trying to expand their shows to a broader audience.
According to Variety’s report, the reruns of the series will begin immediately following NBA All-Star coverage on Saturday, with True Blood premiering on TNT after the NBA All-Star Game, and Silicon Valley premiering on TBS at the same time. Following that, True Blood will then move to its regular time period, Mondays at 10 p.m. on TNT. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley will air Sundays at 10 p.m. on TBS.
“We have an enviable arsenal of networks and assets which gives us flexibility and allows us to put our impressive content library to work on platforms where it can attract new audiences,” Kathleen Finch, chairman and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks Group, told Variety. “On any given night 30% of the available cable audience is watching one of our networks — on average that’s more than 86 million viewers a week — so our ability to move content around and promote to and engage that huge audience strengthens our hand in an evolving business.”
True Blood originally premiered in 2008 and is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris. The show revolves around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress who lives in a rural town in Louisiana and finds herself thrust into the politics and day-to-day lives of vampires. Alongside Paquin, True Blood stars Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Alexander Skarsgård, Lizzy Caplan, Deborah Ann Woll, and more.
Silicon Valley premiered in 2014 on HBO and ran for six seasons and over 50 episodes. The comedy series focuses on programmer Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), who founds a startup company called Pied Piper. The series also stars T.J. Miller, Josh Brener, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, Amanda Crew, Matt Ross, and Jimmy O. Yang. The series was nominated for numerous Primetime Emmy Awards and won two during its run.
