Weinsteins will pay NBC for Runway switch

Producer/distributor The Weinstein Company has agreed to compensate NBC for switching reality series Project Runway from the NBC-owned Bravo channel to Disney and Hearst-backed Lifetime.

The two parties have agreed a deal following a legal wrangle that ensued after The Weinstein Company cut a deal, reportedly worth US$150 million, for the series, which had previously aired on Bravo for five seasons.

The terms of the deal will see NBC paid a large settlement fee and will allow it to launch its replacement series The Fashion Show in May.

“I couldn’t be more excited that Lifetime will bring its viewers an amazing, all-new season of Project Runway this summer,” Lifetime president Andrea Wong said in a statement. “Lifetime is the perfect home for this outstanding program as well as its companion series Models of the Runway.”