CelebrityWorld

Sony Pictures TV, in an effort to compete in television’s first run syndication market,  recently won the bidding wars to distribute a new talk show by Oprah Winfrey protege’, Dr. Mehmet Oz. The idea for the show was auctioned in April by Oprah’s Harpo Productions, which will co-produce the one hour program with Sony.

Steve Mosco, president of Sony Pictures TV, directed Sony’s bidding, and eyes the show as an excellent launch vehicle for the company, which owns no stations in the US market. Sony will sell national advertising for the show, and has agreed to distribute programming in both the United States and Canada.

With Winfrey’s name attached to the project, programming experts see little problem marketing the show, except for one little hitch. Sony hopes to air the show in the same time slot as Oprah, on a competing station. Dr. Oz has certainly earned a name for himself over the past three years that he has contributed as a guest on Oprah’s show, but going head to head with the talk show queen may prove to be an insurmountable challenge.

Both Sony and Harpo Productions declined to reveal what Sony paid for the distribution rights.

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