CATWALK CONFORMITY
Harvey Weinstein and Jeff Zucker have kissed and made up.
The dueling moguls yesterday reached a settlement in their contentious legal standoff over hit reality show “Project Runway,” with The Weinstein Co. agreeing to pay NBC Universal for the right to move the show to cable network Lifetime.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but a source close to the situation pegged the payment to NBCU from The Weinstein Co. in the “multiple millions of dollars.”
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NBC last year sued The Weinstein Co. for breach of contract after The Weinstein Co. struck the Lifetime deal without giving NBC’s Bravo, where “Project Runway” has aired for five seasons, the chance to match any offer for the show.
“I want to personally congratulate Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner,” Weinstein said in a statement.
But Weinstein likely isn’t as humbled as he sounds.
Indeed, while NBC technically won the case, Weinstein may not have exactly lost, either.
Astute observers noted that chatter about the unknown settlement figure was not “tens of millions of dollars,” suggesting the total dollar amount was less than $10 million.
And given how much Lifetime overpaid for “Project Runway,” Weinstein can probably afford to redirect some of that cash to NBCU and still come out ahead on the deal.
Lifetime is paying roughly $150 million over the course of five years. That translates into more than $1 million per episode, based on the network running a 14-episode season twice a year over five years.
By contrast, Bravo paid just $600,000 per episode for the show during the last two seasons and less than that for the initial three seasons.
Lifetime likely won’t make that money back from the show alone, but from the network’s perspective “Project Runway,” is a loss leader that can spawn spin-off shows and help rebrand the channel. Indeed, a companion series called “Models of the Runway” is already set to air, while another series called “Project Pygmalion” is in development.
The fact that NBCU settled caught people inside Bravo flatfooted. According to sources, insiders thought that NBCU’s case against Weinstein was strong enough to potentially get the show back or, at the very least, hold it up in court long enough to kill momentum for “Runway” and give Bravo’s own “The Fashion Show” a first-mover advantage.
“The Fashion Show,” which is modeled after “Project Runway,” is set to air May 7. Lifetime won’t begin airing the latest season of “Project Runway” until this summer, most likely during the latter portion of the season.
Nevertheless, a source close to the situation said settling was in NBC’s best interest.
“NBC didn’t need the show and they didn’t want to be in business with Harvey anymore, so it was better for them to take the money,” a source said.