NBC and DirecTV have renewed “Friday Night Lights” for two season. The new deal covers the show’s fourth and fifth seasons, which will consist of 13 episodes each.
It continues the innovative partnership between the NBC and the DirectTV that saved “FNL” from cancellation this season, the third for the Peabody-winning series revolving around a high school football team in a small Texas town. Series hails from Brian Grazer’s Imagine TV, Peter Berg’s Film 44 shingle and Universal Media Studios.
DirecTV will get the first window on the episodes, to run commercial-free as the marquee property on its 101 Network channel.
The additional two seasons will bring “FNL’s” episode tally to 76. Universal and Imagine were eager to continue producing episodes to enhance the prospects for a syndication sale.
