Warner Bros. Sells ‘2 Broke Girls’ Reruns to Stations, TBS

Time Warner Inc. (TWX)’s Warner Bros. sold “2 Broke Girls,” last season’s top-rated new comedy, for rerun on CBS television stations and its own TBS cable network.

CBS Corp. stations will air the show outside of prime time in late 2014, while TBS will carry episodes in 2015, Burbank, California-based Warner Bros. said today in a statement.

Broadcast and cable networks are locking up rerun rights earlier, in some cases after a single season, to ensure they have shows with established audiences. That in turn helps TV studios defray costs sooner and boost revenue. In 2009, CBS Corp. (CBS) sold “NCIS: Los Angeles” reruns to the USA cable network after seven episodes.

Time Warner, based in New York, fell 0.5 percent to $37.13 at the close of New York trading. It has climbed 2.7 percent this year. CBS, which airs original episodes of “2 Broke Girls” in prime time, gained 0.2 percent to $32.02.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net