'Seinfeld' Is Getting a New Home on Cable

By Daniel S. Levine

Seinfeld fans who can't get enough of watching the misadventures of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer have a new cable channel to turn to. All 180 episodes of the beloved sitcom will only air on Comedy Central, starting in October. The show had been playing on TBS for years, but ViacomCBS nabbed the exclusive cable rights from Sony Pictures Television back in September 2019. The show will also be available to stream on Netflix soon.

On Wednesday, Comedy Central released a spot with Jerry Seinfeld in a recreation of Jerry's apartment from the hit show. The comedian got a buzz on his intercom from "Comedy Central" to drop off 180 episodes, but Seinfeld joked that his apartment already is comedy central. "This could be a match," Seinfeld said to the camera, before asking Comedy Central to come up to his apartment.

Seinfeld will begin airing on Comedy Central starting on Saturday, Oct. 9 with fan-favorite episodes airing during a Festivus-themed countdown. The series will begin airing regularly on Monday, Oct. 11. Financial terms of the deal were not announced, but a source told The Wrap in September 2019 that Viacom paid over $250,000 per episode.

"Seinfeld airing on Comedy Central and the Viacom networks brings together the greatest comedy of all time, with the best brands in cable," John Weiser, the then-president of Sony's First Run Television, said in 2019. "This was a tremendous team effort and we are delighted to be working with the first-class executives at Viacom who are experts in programming and promotion. For a show about Nothing, this is really Something!"

Seinfeld's switch from TBS to Comedy Central also comes as the iconic show is about to get a new streaming home. After years on Hulu, the show left the streaming service and was unavailable to stream anywhere over the summer. In September, Netflix finally announced Seinfeld will be released on its platform on Friday, Oct. 1.

Seinfeld originally aired on NBC from 1989 to 1998 and was created by Seinfeld and Larry David. The cast features Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself, with Jason Alexander as his best friend George Costanza; Julia Louis-Dreyfus as his ex-girlfriend-turned-friend Elaine Benes; and Michael Richards as his wacky neighbor Kramer. The show is famously "about nothing," since plots for each episode are often disconnected and relating to the frustrations of everyday life. The show won 10 Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993.

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