‘True Blood’ and ‘Silicon Valley’ to Make Syndication Debut

Years after they wrapped their respective series runs on HBO, True Blood and Silicon Valley are getting ready to make their syndicated debut. As part of a new experiment, being conducted by Warner Bros. Discovery, TBS, and TNT, the two series, deemed to be among HBO’s most iconic programming, will begin airing edited episodes on regular TV.

According to Variety, both shows will debut on their respective cable channels after coverage of the NBA All-Star game on Saturday, Feb. 18. True Blood will air on TNT, with Silicon Valley making the move to TBS. Following their initial debut after the NBA All-Star game, True Blood will move to its regular time period on Mondays at 10 p.m. on TNT, and Silicon Valley will air Sundays at 10 p.m. on TBS.

Since they will be airing on regular television, and not HBO, a premium channel where restrictions are much laxer, both series will be edited for these new broadcast runs. Both series have been given TV-MA ratings, with the rerun episodes being edited for content. This means that those steamy sex and nudity scenes are out, as well as any language deemed unsuitable for regular TV. The reruns will also include ad breaks.

This is far from the first time HBO content has been edited for normal TV. In the past, Sex and the City and The Sopranos were sold into syndication. However, True Blood and Silicon Valley making their syndicated debut will mark a first for programming produced and aired on HBO in more recent years. Created by Alan Ball and based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of novels by Charlaine Harris, True Blood ran for seven seasons from 2008 to 2014. The beloved comedy Silicon Valley ran for six seasons from 2014 to 2019.

“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.”

As the two series move to syndication, Warner Bros. Discovery will reportedly be monitoring Nielsen returns to see how viewers react to the HBO content on the cable channels. If the two shows perform well, additional series could be sold into syndication.